The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, Wit, by Margaret Edison, opened Friday to a nearly sold-out audience at the new and intimate Iron Horse Theatre in Ambridge.
We meet Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., (Amy Ellefson) as she enters the hospital for what will be the final hours of her life. For nearly a year she has been undergoing experimental and unsuccessful chemotherapy treatment for her stage four ovarian cancer. Vivian’s expertise and her passion lies in 17th century English poetry and specifically the metaphysical sonnets of the acclaimed poet John Donne. Throughout the play, Vivian reflects on her life through the intricacies of the English language, especially the use of wit in Donne’s Holy Sonnet X, “Death Be Not Proud.” We learn that as a professor, Vivian has a well-deserved reputation for her rigorous teaching methods. She has lived her life alone shielded behind her literary knowledge. Unmarried and without children with her parents both deceased; she has no emergency contact.
Through much of the play, Vivian speaks to the audience directly. She flashes back to the moments that set her life’s direction; learning to read with her father, her love of books, her passion for poetry and her extensive knowledge of Donne’s poetry. These moments are interspersed between reflections on the varying aspects and experiences of her treatment. Wit is a multi-layered story, as each layer peels back we get closer to understanding Vivian’s true essence.
An experience dealing with cancer directly or with a family member or loved one, along with the rigors of hospital care, will color audience members reactions to Wit. Playwright Edson has captured all the frustrations that hospital care provides along with the difficulties of experimental treatments and the compassion of the nursing staff. That can quickly become one’s focus with the play, but there is so much more to the story here. How did Vivian life become so focused, almost to an obsession, on Donne’s poetry?
We learn one of one of the doctors treating Vivian, Dr. Jason Posner (David Santiago), had taken her Donne class in college. Dr. Posner’s compassionless bedside manner reflects his obsession with the “awesomeness” of cancer in his life as a research scientist. Santiago’s portrays Posner as an uber-nerd who is equally uncomfortable around people. There is a very touching scene where he and Vivian let down their guard and realize the similarities of their singularly focused life’s work.
What Edison has accomplished with Wit is to transpose the thorny metaphysical questions about the meaning of life and death from Donne’s “Death Be Not Proud” from the relatively short sonnet form into the form and context of a modern play.
The Iron Horse Theatre is an intimate unadorned performance space which makes Vivian’s asides storytelling to the audience even more impactful. Director Tom Mirth has devised smart solutions that allow us to travel from the various labs in the hospital as well as the significant places in Vivian’s life. Wit takes on the characteristics of a one-woman show with Vivian’s character and storytelling being the central focus. Mirth’s direction has refined Ellefson’s portrayal of Vivian into an emotional tour-de-force. She is a likable but stuffy character at first. It takes the progression of her disease to bring out her humanity. In her final hours, she gains comfort in being called “honey” and “sweetheart” by her primary nurse Sue Monahan (Lynda Gibson) expressions she previously found abhorrent. Sue is not the brightest in this suite of characters, but she is undoubtedly the most human and compassionate of the lot. The friendship that develops between Vivian and Sue is touching and genuine in their portrayal.
What makes the Iron Horse Theatre production of Wit so compelling is the performance of Amy Ellefson as Vivian. Her role requires bravery that starts with the demand to shave off your hair and winds up leaving the actress entirely emotionally and physically exposed as death draws near. Ellefson brings the audience to tears as the play ends and to their feet for the curtain call in one of the seasons most excellent performances.
If I could be granted two wishes for this production, the first would be that Ellefson becomes more physically frail in her portrayal as Vivian’s chemo progresses. The second would be for Iron Horse to secure the services of a competent Lighting Designer. The function is uncredited for this production, perhaps confirming my suspicion that it didn’t exist — such a missed opportunity to heighten the dramatic impact of this show.
Wit has performances at the Iron Horse Theatre, 348 Maplewood Ave in Ambridge now through December 15th. Curtain times are 7:30 p.m., with the matinee at 2. For tickets click here.
George Hoover got his start in theatre in Miami when his family ran the Coconut Grove Playhouse. His career encompasses a variety of work in both the design and technical side of motion pictures, live theatre, and television. George is a three-time Emmy Award winner, member of the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame, Broadcasting & Cable Technology Leadership Award winner, Society of Motion Picture and Television Engineers Life Fellow, and most importantly a passionate theatre person and generally handy guy.
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