Over the Weekend: Date With Dad

I'm a bit of a Daddy's girl. Hmmm...that's such a lie. I'm a big time Daddy's girl lol. Saturday, a good friend of his gave him some tickets to a play he would not be able to attend. He also had dinner reservations for a restaurant in Westwood where the play would be. So we gladly accepted it all. So Saturday night I went out with Papa Bear aka Dad aka Daddy when we need him to do something for us :)

Dinner was at a small Italian restaurant called Mio Babbo's.

Yeah, that's Papa Bear. And right in front is my yuummy Salmon!! This place was such a wonderful surprise. It has the feel of a home kitchen, right from the entrance. It gets a full house for dinner and is a good mix of a young and older crowd. We both had a fish dish so I'm not sure how their classic dishes are but I would like to go again and find out! I loved the black leather seating and checkered pattern design. It has a little of a Godfather feel to it.

Since the play didn't start for another hour we walked around a bit. We made our way to a Coffee Bean. Dad was needing his coffee fix...lol he's a true caffeine addict and admits that he does not want the "help" with his problem. He has limited himself to only spending $20 a week at Starbucks. That is major control for him!

The Play was called Ruined. It was showing at the Geffen Play House right near UCLA. It's a small theater but very nice.

Now, about the play, Ruined. It's a serious and heart aching play yet there is some humor to lighten up the dark. The story takes place in a bar/whore house in the Republic of Congo with the civil war raging in the background. The leading Lady in the play, Mama, runs a tight business where she doesn't take sides nor orders from any one but herself. Her girls are not whores, they are wives, chiefs daughters, students, women that were abused by the evil of the war they are living in. They were kidnapped and beaten and raped. Over and over. Some to the point where they have become "ruined" and are seen as bad luck, a disgrace and an embarrassment to their families and whole village. They live with mama as whores because its a guaranteed shelter, food, and protection from the horrors they would face outside, even if they are still being used. As the story progresses we see how Mama struggles to keep her business running but as much as she tries the war creeps closer and has devastating results in the lives of the women in this story. There were moments where I just could not hold back the tears in my eyes. Or the ache I felt in my heart. Mostly because these stories are real. They are not the imagination of a great writer but the experiences of strong, brave, resilient women that did not deserve it. In the end there is some hope as Mama gives in and accepts her own heart ache to find the strength to move on. Awesome Play!!!