A spokesman for MTC confirmed the plan, but no New York venue or dates have been announced (MTC produces on Broadway and off). An arrangement between MTC and Chicago's Goodman has not been officially announced by either not-for-profit.
The drama from the author of Fabulation, Crumbs From the Table of Joy and Intimate Apparel will premiere at the Goodman's 400-seat Owen Theatre in fall 2008. Kate Whoriskey will direct the production in Chicago and New York.
"It's about a brothel in the democratic republic of The Congo," Nottage told Playbill.com columnist Harry Haun, suggesting a possible January 2009 start in New York City.
Here's how the Goodman bills the play: "MacArthur Foundation Fellowship winner Lynn Nottage returns to Chicago with her Goodman commission, Ruined, which the theatre workshopped and produced as part of the 2007 New Stages Series. Set in the present day Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ruined centers around Mama Nadi, a savvy businesswoman who, in the midst of a complex civil war, protects and profits from the women whose bodies have become a battleground."
Nottage's work was last seen at the Goodman in 2006 when Crumbs from the Table of Joy, directed by Chuck Smith, was staged. Nottage is a Brooklyn playwright. Her plays include Intimate Apparel; Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine; Crumbs from the Table of Joy; and Las Meninas. They have been produced and developed at theatres both nationally and internationally, including the Roundabout Theatre Company, Playwrights Horizons, Center Stage, South Coast Rep., Second Stage, Freedom Theatre, Sundance Institute Theatre Lab, St. Louis Black Rep, Crossroads Theatre, Intiman, San Jose Rep, Oregon Shakespeare Festival, Steppenwolf, Yale Rep, The Vineyard Theatre, The Women's Project, New Dramatists Playtime Lab, The Tricycle Theatre in London, among many others.
She is the recipient of numerous awards including an OBIE Award for playwriting, New York Drama Critics Circle Award, John Gassner Outer Critics Circle Award, American Theatre Critics/Steinberg 2004 New Play Award, 2004 Francesca Primus Award and two AUDELCO awards. Her most recent publications include "Intimate Apparel and Fabulation" (TCG) and an anthology of her plays, "Crumbs from the Table of Joy and Other Plays" (TCG), which includes Crumbs from the Table of Joy, Las Meninas; Mud, River, Stone; Por'knockers and Poof!
She was awarded a 2007 Lucille Lortel Foundation Fellowship, 2005 Guggenheim Fellowship, The National Black Theatre Festival's August Wilson Playwriting Award and the 2004 PEN/Laura Pels Award for Drama. She is a graduate of Brown University and the Yale School of Drama.
Nottage is also a recent graduate of New Dramatists.
For more information visit www.lynnnottage.com, www.GoodmanTheatre.org or www.ManhattanTheatreClub.com.
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Goodman Theatre is currently presenting a Horton Foote Festival, including The Trip to Bountiful starring Lois Smith (through April 6).
MTC's current offering is S. Epatha Merkerson starring in Come Back, Little Sheba at MTC's Broadway home at the Biltmore Theatre (to March 16).
