Interview with Lynn Nottage, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Ruined
Playwright Lynn Nottage has received numerous awards for her groundbreaking work on the stage, including the MacArthur ‘Genius’ Award. A Brooklyn native, she regularly champions social justice issues in her plays. She was recently awarded a Pulitzer Prize for her play Ruined, a hard-hitting tale of a group of women set in a brothel in the Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo. The women flee the ravages of internecine war and the scars of brutal, mutilating rapes. Yet the characters — even the men — offer touching moments of real warmth, all while united by a lilting soundtrack of Congolese music. Ruined will be staged at the Almeida Theatre in London in March 2010.
Nottage spoke with me about her life as an activist, her work as a dramatist, and the power of stories to effect social change.
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–Deji Olukotun
Photo by Susan Johann
