USA: Hard-hitting play about rape in the Congo, written by Lynn Nottage, wins the 2009 Pulitzer prize for drama
Record ID:
385077
USA: Hard-hitting play about rape in the Congo, written by Lynn Nottage, wins the 2009 Pulitzer prize for drama
- Title: USA: Hard-hitting play about rape in the Congo, written by Lynn Nottage, wins the 2009 Pulitzer prize for drama
- Date: 22nd April 2009
- Summary: SNEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (APRIL 20, 2009) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF PEOPLE AWAITING THE PULITZER PRIZE ANNOUNCEMENTS (SOUNDBITE) (English) SIG GISSLER, ADMINISTRATOR OF THE PULITZER PRIZES, COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF JOURNALISM, SAYING: "In drama the selection was 'Ruined'. It was set in the Congo, which is a bit unusual, because the prize says that it preferably deals with American life." (*** BEWARE FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY ***) DRAMA PULITZER WINNER LYNN NOTTAGE POSING FOR PHOTOGRAPHERS AFTER HER PULITZER WIN PHOTOGRAPHERS NOTTAGE POSING WITH COLLEAGUES (SOUNDBITE) (English) LYNN NOTTAGE, WINNER OF THE 2009 PULITZER PRIZE FOR DRAMA, SAYING: "I think that it's an incredibly great honor. I think that it certainly draws much more attention to a playwright than some of the other awards."
- Embargoed: 7th May 2009 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: Usa
- Country: USA
- Topics: Entertainment
- Reuters ID: LVA4373XI356FVEHRNRW9POYXNI2
- Story Text: Award winning New York playwright Lynn Nottage has won the Pulitzer Prize for drama for her play "Ruined", which explores rape as a weapon of war and is set in a Congolese brothel.
An excited Nottage told Reuters on Monday (April 20) soon after the announcement that winning the Pulitzer is an enormous honor.
"I think that it certainly draws much more attention to a playwright than some of the other awards," she said.
"Ruined," which opened in February at the New York City Center theater and has been extended through May 3, is based on dozens of interviews Nottage conducted with Congolese women. The play is set at the shrewd Mama Nadi's brothel in Congo's Ituri province, where men are served watered-down liquor and are told to leave their bullets at the bar and their politics outside.
Nottage said that it was difficult to write the play because it deals with such a grim subject and the challenge was to make it desirable for viewers to come and see.
"My play is about rape in the Congo and I hope that this Pulitzer will continue that conversation and I hope that more people will come and see the play and feel compelled to engage with the issue," she said.
Nottage lives in Brooklyn, New York and is a 2007 recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship, the $500,000 so-called genius grant. Her previous plays, including "Intimate Apparel," were about African-American women. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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