Manhattan Theatre Club is pleased to announce that After Words, the popular discussion series which has been a success at the Samuel J. Friedman Theatre will come to MTC at New York City Center for the world premiere of Lynn Nottage’s RUINED, the haunting, probing work about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war.

After Words is part of MTC’s continuing effort to deepen and enrich the play-going experience for its audiences. Held after selected Saturday matinees, this exciting series of talks with writers, cultural critics, journalists, and members of the RUINED cast and creative team provides provocative and illuminating insights into the political, cultural, and artistic contexts of the work MTC produces.
Date Guest(s) Creative & Cast Moderator
January 31 Jessica Neuwirth, Taina Bien-Aimé Lynn Nottage Lisa McNulty
February 7 Eve Ensler, Dr. Denis Mukwege Kate Whoriskey Lisa McNulty
February 14 Denise Bell Saida Arrika Ekulona, Russell Gebert Jones David Shookhoff
JESSICA NEUWIRTH is one of the founders and current President of Equality Now, an international human rights organization established in 1992 to work for an end to all forms of violence and discrimination against women. From 1985 to 1990, she held various positions at Amnesty International, including Policy Advisor for Amnesty International USA and Tour Producer for Human Rights Now!, an international concert tour commemorating the fortieth anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Ms. Neuwirth subsequently worked in international finance, specializing in sovereign debt restructuring for developing countries as an associate at the law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. She has also lent her expertise to the United Nations, most recently as a consultant to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda on issues of sexual violence in several cases and helped win landmark decisions recognizing rape as a form of genocide and holding Rwandan media executives accountable for the role of the media in the 1994 genocide. She has taught international women’s human rights at Harvard Law School. Ms. Neuwirth holds a Juris Doctor from Harvard Law School and a Bachelor of Arts in History from Yale University.

TAINA BIEN-AIMÉ is the Executive Director of Equality Now, an international human rights organization that works for the protection of the rights of women and girls. Ms. Bien-Aimé holds a Juris Doctor from NYU School of Law and a Licence in Political Science from the University of Geneva and the Graduate School of International Studies, Switzerland. Prior to her appointment as Executive Director in 2001, Ms. Bien-Aimé served as the General Counsel of Equality Now, and has been a board member of the organization since 1993. Ms. Bien-Aimé was Director of Business Affairs/Film Acquisition at Home Box Office from 1996 to 1999. She also practiced international corporate law at a Wall Street law firm, Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton from 1992 to 1996.

EVE ENSLER is a playwright, performer and activist. She is the award-winning author of The Vagina Monologues, which has been published in 45 languages and performed in over 120 countries. She is the also founder/artistic director of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women, now celebrating its 11th year. Eve has traveled to the DRC three times in the past 18 months.

DR. DENIS MUKWEGE is director and founder of the ground-breaking Panzi hospital in Bukavu, DRC where he performs life-saving fistula surgeries for women who have been brutally raped and mutilated in the Congolese war. Together with V-Day and UNICEF, he is working to build the City of Joy, a safe community for survivors of sexual violence healed at Panzi.

DENISE BELL is the Darfur Campaigner at Amnesty International USA (AIUSA), where she works on issues of security, humanitarian access, and international justice in Amnesty's campaign to end the conflict in Darfur. She also works more broadly on issues of violence against women and girls in conflict zones in Africa, refugees and IDPs, and economic activism. Previously, she was a Sudan Country Specialist for the organization. Denise was instrumental in creating AIUSA's economic activism campaign on Sudan and also developed Amnesty's new human rights exhibition on Darfur, "Displaced." Denise came to Amnesty from Behind the Book, a grassroots literacy nonprofit serving low-income youth in NYC public schools; as Director of Development, she was a founding partner of the organization. Denise earned a B.A. in History and English from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in History from the University of Cambridge. She left a Ph.D. program in History at Northwestern University to pursue a career in human rights.
 


 

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