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Except even when our hearts are breaking for the courageous women of Nottage's Congo, they're focused only on tomorrow. 'Ruined' features Donnetta Lavinia Grays as Salima, Rachael Holmes as Sophie and Jamairais Malone as Josephine. (Photo: Joan Marcus/Arena Stage | Date: Apr. 21, 2011)

In their exuberant reviews of Arena Stage's Ruined (Peter Marks: "Arena’s production is ... an improvement on the 2009 New York original."), critics have praised the theater for its joy-meets-sorrow approach to a difficult topic: The Second Congo War. Take a look at the the production's leading ladies, in settings designed by Alexander V. Nichols and costumes designed by Project Runway runner-up Emilio Sosa. A TBD Pick yesterday, "Ruined is tearfully persuasive and gratitude-inducing, awakening joy even as it introduces us to sorrow."