Ruined: Critically acclaimed cast from Chicago world premiere production will reprise their roles in New York premiere

The New York premere production of Lynn Nottage�s Ruined will see the critically acclaimed cast from the show's world permiere production at Chicago's Goodman Theatre reprise their roles.

Saidah Arrika Ekulona will once again play the leading role of 'Mama Nadi.' Ekulona, replaced Adriane Lenox who was originally cast to star in the show.

Ekulona made her Broadeay debut in Lisa Kron's 'Well' (Kay: 2006). Her off-Broadway credits include 'Unconditional,' 'Romeo and Juliet' and 'Well' for the Public Theater, as well as 'Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine' (playwright Horizons) and 'A Streetcar Named Desire' (New York Theatre Workshop).

The cast also includes Quincy Tyler Bernstine, Cherise Boothe, Chris Chalk, Saidah Arrika Ekulona, William Jackson Harper, Chik� Johnson, Russell Gebert Jones, Kevin Mambo, Tom Mardirosian and Condola Rashad.

Ruined is currently playing an extended engagement at the Goodman�s Owen Theatre where it opened to rave reviews for Nottage�s play, the ensemble cast, and director Kate Whoriskey.

The drama will open at at the New York City Center � Stage I on 10 Feb 2009, following previews from 21 Jan, running through to 29 Mar 2009.

Ruined: Set in a small mining town in Democratic Republic of Congo, the play follows Mama Nadi (Lenox), a shrewd businesswoman in a land torn apart by civil war. But is she protecting or profiting by the women she shelters? How far will she go to survive? Can a price be placed on a human life?

Ruined will be directed by Kate Whoriskey, who staged Nottage�s 'Fabulation' at Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater in 2004.

Lynn Nottage previous plays include 'Fabulation,' 'Intimate Apparel,' 'Mud, River, Stone,' 'Por'Knockers' and 'Crumbs from the Table of Joy.'