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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link=blue vlink=purple><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Contact: Vivian C. Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><a name="OLE_LINK1"></a><a name="OLE_LINK2"><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Marketing Director<o:p></o:p></span></b></a></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Phone (216) 795-7070 x 215<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoNormal align=right style='text-align:right'><b><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></b></p><h1><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE –Thursday, April 21, 2011<o:p></o:p></span></h1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Karamu Performing Arts Theater Presents its final production of the 2010/2011 Theater Season themed: the “Season of Joy and Perseverance with the 2009 Pulitzer prize winning production of <i>Ruined</i> by Lynn Nottage being directed by Caroline Jackson Smith. <i>Ruined</i> opens on Friday, May 6<sup>th</sup> and runs thru Sunday, May 29<sup>th</sup>. <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>Ruined</span></i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif";color:black'>, is about a group of physically and emotionally scarred women in the war-torn Congo. This play won virtually every award that it qualified for during its seven-month run Off Broadway in 2009. </span><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> This haunting, probing work garnered rave reviews. The play is about the resilience of the human spirit during times of war. Set in a small mining town in Democratic Republic of Congo, this powerful play follows Mama Nadi, a shrewd businesswoman performed by Sheffia Dooley*, 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?<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Lead Actors Sheffia Dooley and Peter Lawson Jones (Discretion advised due to subject matter)<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'> <i><o:p></o:p></i></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Ruined </span></i><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>by Lynn Nottage (DRAMA) May 6 – May 29, 2011, Karamu’s Jelliffe Theatre directed by: Caroline Jackson Smith</span><span style='font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif"'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman","serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><u><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Preview night </span></u><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> is Wednesday, May 5 at 7:30pm; <u>Preview night ticket prices are $10.00 each. <o:p></o:p></u></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>Opening Night, May 6th and subsequent Performances are 8:00 p.m. on Thursday, Friday and Saturdays and 3:00 p.m. on Sunday. Thursday and Sunday Tickets are $20; Friday and Saturday <o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>tickets are $25.00 Group, senior and student discounts are available<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt;color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'>Come to Karamu and “Feel at Home In the House”. Karamu House inc. is generously funded by Cuyahoga County Residents through Cuyahoga Arts and Culture. Support is also provided by The Cleveland Foundation;The George Gund Foundation; The Ohio Lottery and The Ohio Arts Council.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal align=center style='text-align:center'><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Arial","sans-serif"'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> For additional information on Karamu please visit our website at </span><a href="http://www.karamuhouse.org"><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>www.karamuhouse.org</span></a><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> or contact Karamu’s box office at 216-795-7077.<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoBodyText><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'>*Equity Actor<o:p></o:p></span></b></p><p class=MsoBodyText><b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'> ~~</span></b><span style='font-size:11.0pt'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-family:"Freestyle Script"'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><i><span style='font-family:"Freestyle Script"'><o:p> </o:p></span></i></b></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Blackadder ITC"'>Vivian C. Wilson<o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal>Marketing Director<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Karamu House<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>2355 East 89th Street<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Cleveland, OH 44106<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Ph: 216-795-7070 extension 215<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal>Fax 216-795-7073<o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><u>vwilson@karamu.com<o:p></o:p></u></p><p class=MsoNormal><u>www.karamuhouse.org<o:p></o:p></u></p><p class=MsoNormal><i>Feel at Home in the House!<o:p></o:p></i></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p></div></body></html>