“I can't quite remember the exact moment when I became obsessed with writing a play about the seemingly endless war in the Democratic Republic of Congo, but I knew that I wanted to somehow tell the stories of the Congolese women caught in the cross-fire.” WritingI CanWarPlayMomentsStoriesWantedRememberFireCrossesDemocraticCaughtEndlessObsessedRepublicCongoEndless WarDemocratic Republic Author:Lynn Nottage
“I was repeatedly told that there isn't an African American woman who can open a show on Broadway. I said, 'Well, how do we know? How do we know if we don't do it?' I said, 'I think you're wrong.'” IfsThinkingKnowsWellsSaidShowsKnow HowAfrican AmericanBroadwayAmerican WomanAfrican American Women Author:Lynn Nottage
“If you lead with the anger, it will turn off the audience. And what I want is the audience to engage with the material and to listen and then to ask questions. I think that 'Ruined' was very successful at doing that.” IfsThinkingWantTurnsAsksAudienceSuccessfulMaterialsRuinedTurn Off Author:Lynn Nottage
“In the business of war, the role of women is really to maintain normalcy and ensure that there is cultural continuity.” WarRolesContinuityNormalcy Author:Lynn Nottage
“Plays are getting smaller and smaller, not because playwrights minds are shrinking but because of the economics.” MindPlayEconomicsPlaywrightShrinking Author:Lynn Nottage
“African American women in particular have incredible buying power. Statistically, we go to the movies more than anyone. We have made Tyler Perrys career. His films open with $25 million almost consistently.” MadeFilmCareersMillionsParticularIncrediblesAfrican AmericanBuyingConsistentlyAmerican WomanAfrican American WomenBuying Power Author:Lynn Nottage
“I feel it's my social responsibility to shine a light on areas that don't get seen. My personal feeling is that it's an artist's responsibility to be engaged with the culture. And when the culture is going through turmoil, I think an artist can't ignore that. I don't feel that every artist has to be politically engaged, but I can't imagine that you can be an active participant of this culture and not in some way reflect that in the work you are creating.” ThinkingWayFeelsI CanFeelingsLightArtistCultureSocialResponsibilityImagineCreatingAreasShiningActiveEngagedImagine ThatSocial ResponsibilityTurmoilParticipantsPersonal Feelings Author:Lynn Nottage
“It's much easier to conjure characters strictly from your imagination than to have to think about whether you're representing people in a truthful way.” PeopleThinkingWayCharacterImaginationEasierTruthfulRepresenting Author:Lynn Nottage
“When you begin a play, you're going to have to spend a lot of time with those characters, so those characters are going to have to be rich enough that you want to take a very long journey with them. That's how I begin thinking about what I want to write about and who I want to write about.” ThinkingWantWritingLongEnoughPlayCharacterRichJourneyLong Journey Author:Lynn Nottage
“When the play is still evolving I try to be at rehearsal as often as possible, and part of that casting process. You find new things when the language is living in different people's mouths.” PeopleTryingStillsDifferentPlayLanguageProcessMouthsEvolveNew ThingsCastingDifferent PeoplesRehearsal Author:Lynn Nottage
“I think that when you're first shaping the play and trying to find a character, the initial actors that develop it end up imprinting on it - you hear their voices, you hear their rhythms. You can't help but to begin to write toward them during the rehearsal process.” ThinkingWritingTryingFirstsEndsPlayCharacterHelpingActorsProcessVoiceRhythmInitialsRehearsalImprinting Author:Lynn Nottage
“I see the audience as the final collaborator. I think it's kind of bullshit when people say, "I'm not interested in the audience reaction." I'm like, "Then why do you do theater? You can write a book, then you don't have to see how the audience reacts." It's a living, breathing thing.” PeopleThinkingWritingKindBookAudienceTheaterFinalsReactionsBreathingNot InterestedBullshitCollaborators Author:Lynn Nottage
“I'm interested in the moments where the audience is restless. I'm interested in the moments where they lean in and become incredibly engaged: the laughter, the silence. All of that is part of how I think about shaping and rewriting the play.” ThinkingPlayMomentsSilenceAudienceLaughterEngagedRestlessRewriting Author:Lynn Nottage
“I want the audience, when they leave, to think of the characters on the stage in three dimensions. I want them to have empathy. I also want them to think about engaging more with where we are culturally.” ThinkingWantCharacterThreeAudienceStageEmpathyDimensionsEngagingThree Dimensions Author:Lynn Nottage
“Hopefully this is going to be a trend, the beginning of a movement to reclaim theater for the artist and not commerce. I think there's a level of fatigue. Artists are tired of having to create work that's then coopted by commercial demands. When you begin souping up the car, the car no longer feels like your own.” ThinkingArtistCarLike YouTiredHopefullyFatigue Author:Lynn Nottage
“Just because it’s a unique perspective doesn’t mean it can’t offer something universal.” MeanPerspectiveOffersUniqueUniversalUnique Perspective Author:Lynn Nottage
“I wanted to tell the story of these women and the war in the Congo and I couldn't find anything about them in the newspapers or in the library, so I felt I had to get on a plane and go to Africa and find the story myself. I felt there was a complete absence in the media of their narrative. It's very different now, but when I went in 2004 that was definitely the case.” DifferentWarStoriesWantedFeltCasesMediaLibraryAbsenceNewspapersNarrativePlanesCongo Author:Lynn Nottage
“A play that forces us to question our moral responsibility to the victims of human rights abuse.” HumansPlayForceResponsibilityMoralRightsAbuseVictimHuman RightsMoral Responsibility Author:Lynn Nottage
