"Ruined" at the Huntington -- a hard play, worth seeing

Ruined, a play by Lynn Nottage, at the Huntington Theater. Directed by Liesl Tommy. We attended Saturday night, January 22, 2011.

What I liked about this play is that it took us places we don't think about or read about very often. We learn from the program notes that the Congo has undergone a civil war in which over 5 million people have died, and more than 200,000 women and girls have been raped. Many of our electronic devices depend on a rare earth mineral mined there, and the money from which helps to fuel the conflict.

It's hard to watch this play. It takes place in a brothel and bar near the mines, with rival soldiers roughing up the place and the women on different nights. What the women characters endure is what the play is about, their fear, their exploitation by the brothel mistress, Mama Nadi, and their savage handling by the men. Nottage demonstrates that attacking women, raping them, is a an act of revenge by all sides in the amorphous, chaotic war. That they continue to live, to talk about their suffering, and thus intimidate the enemy, makes it all the better for the attackers. Most of the violence happens off-stage, yet Nottage and the director, Liesl Tommy, find a way to express the brutality through frenzied dance. The soldiers and miners dance pantomimes of rape.

The story is mainly about the girls' attempt to survive and perhaps escape the brothel one day. We come to see Mama Nadi as a sympathetic mother figure. She is about survival, her own, and ultimately her girls.There are powerful moments as she maneuvers around the different sadistic commanders who spill through the bar. She generally outsmarts them. I wished she hadn't become such a saint by the end of the play. I did like Tonye Patano's portrayal of Mama Nadi, and Oberon Adjepong's Christian, the soulful trader who ultimately offers to love and save Mama Nadi. The dancing, though abhorrent in its objective, was well done in making clear that objective.

The movie True Grit reminds me of the old song, "Gimme that old time religion"

True Grit, a film by Joel and Ethan Coen. Jeff Bridges as Reuben Cogburn, Mat Damon as Ranger LaBoeuf, and Hailee Steinfeld as Mattie Ross. Set some time in the 1880s. Based on the novel True Grit, by Charles Portis.

Fourteen year old Mattie hires Marshal "Rooster" Cogburn to track down and capture the murderer of her father. They're joined by Ranger LaBoeuf. There's a lot of action, and a lot of dead bodies by the end of the movie, almost all of them outlaws. I didn't see the first True Grit, with John Wayne and Kim Darby.p

I liked it. In some ways, it's an old-fashioned Western, with the action, the search for justice, and the clear story line. But the film makers seem conscious of a responsibility as myth-makers, as if they believe the material is sacred. There's a reverential feel to the movie (though, revering what, I'm not sure). A line from the Old Testament begins the film, I think it was, "The wicked flee even when not pursued". Everyone speaks in a formal diction akin to some translations of the Bible. The score has a gospel sound throughout.

And Mattie has the authority and wisdom of an Old Testament queen. The men can't figure her out, but they obey her, and seem to fight for her attention (she's the only young woman in the film). She executes justice on the man who murdered her father, taking justice in her own hands. She pays for it.

Jeff Bridges's voice is worth the price of the ticket. It's true, the rumbling, boozy, nicotine-choked voice is a cliche of the seen-it-all, done-it-all bluesy hard guy, but I enjoyed it.

I loved the scene, early in the film, when Mattie refuses to be left behind by the two men, left behind because she's just a child. She plunges into the muddy river (more Biblical imagery), gripping the reins of her horse, yelling him on, her head just above the water, to reach the two men on the other side. The horse strains wildly, snorting, pulling Mattie. The black horse's head and the girl's head charge through the current until they splash onto the shore.

Can a fourteen year old girl be so courageous, so savvy, so steely, so world-wise? I haven't met one. But this is Hollywood myth-making, and I was mostly willing to go along with the myth. There are false notes. Apparently, the original novel was set in Oklahoma. The movie was shot in New Mexico, with grand mountain views. You have to believe that all the outlaws with guns can't shoot straight, which is a good thing for the good guys.

As I watched, and the body count surged, I couldn't stop thinking that this was also hokum. All some concoction meant to satisfy modern audiences and our sensibilities. Yet, I'm grateful to the Coen brothers. They gave us a movie that we can talk about for a long time.