W;t - 4 out of 5 stars
Fifth Business Theatre Company
TICKETS: https://events.humanitix.com/w-t-pronounced-wit
W;t (also written as Wit) is a play by American playwright Margaret Edson, winning the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It takes the final life ending reflections and experiences of a dying (Stage 4 Ovarian cancer) English Professor, Dr Vivian Bearing, using as a linking foundational connection, the wit in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne, and specifically, Donne’s Holy Sonnets. The small 200-seat Mask Theatre, located within Tyndale Christian School East Salisbury, is a comfortable and intimate theatre space and well suited to this play.
The stage setting is simple, mainly taking place in the
treatment/ bed space of the patient, along with a small office set to one side.
The setting and props (Janet Fletcher) have been well researched and perfectly
reflect the hospital environments that many in the audience would be familiar
with. Costuming by Kristen Wilhelm adds to the realistic environment. The
benefit of these accurate inclusions ensure that the audience needs little to
no time to understand the environment but rather can focus immediately on the
storyline of the play.
There were some technical system problems with the lighting,
but these did not distract from the presented piece although potentially
reduced the intended effects as designed. Actors were easily heard by the
audience without the use of microphones and the only sound effects were the
familiar beeps and alarms heard in hospital rooms and the well-placed subtle
use of Bach Cello Suites nos. 1-6 throughout the play.
Director Janet Fletcher (Coordinator – Old Scholars and
Friends in the Tyndale Performing Arts Program), has taught Year 10 - 12
Drama at Tyndale Christian School for the past 13 years. In her program notes,
Fletcher states “It is, I believe, an uplifting play. It is a play that
disempowers a view of death as something we must run from before it triumphs
over us. It is a warm play that celebrates courage, relationship and kindness.”
While the themes of this production would no doubt be difficult for some to
take in, depending on the audience member’s own personal experiences, I would
agree with Fletcher’s assessment. As it did for me, it asks the audience to
relive their own experiences and memories, the recognisable and the previously
unrealised. Her drama teaching and previous directorial experience comes to the
fore in this adult production, beautifully balancing both the negative experiences
and uplifting moments.
As we follow the journey of the protagonist, Vivian Bearing,
through diagnosis, testing, scans, procedures and so on, the focus is not on
the detail itself, but rather on the emotions and responses to what is
happening to and around her. The audience grasps from their own experiences
what Bearing is going through and her coping strategies in response. How does
she respond to the lack of empathy from clinical staff, the cold procedural
matters impacting personal dignity, but also the kindnesses and support around
her? Her internal intellectual back and forth, anchored by her teaching
speciality of the English language and Donne’s poetry is cleverly reflected in
her self-analysis.
To achieve all these things, the Director needs a commanding
central figure, and she has found one in her casting of Bronwyn Ruciak as
Professor Bearing. From her first entrance on stage, Ruciak confidently leads
us on her journey. Cynical and realistic, arrogant but vulnerable, challenging
the intellectual foundation of her life when faced with the ultimate challenge,
Ruciak gives a wonderful performance. She carries the weight of the production
on her shoulders with most of the scripting including difficult to pronounce
medical terminology and slabs of poetic quotation, all with consistent character,
concentration and timing.
Supporting Ruciak in her journey are a well-cast ensemble,
so important in staging the environment around the principal performer. Georgia
Ulsamer as Nurse Susan Monahan, provides a stand-out performance in an empathic
nuanced portrayal. As the counterbalance against the clinical coldness of the
specialists around her, Monahan highlights the differences and effects of both
groups, often presenting as the defender of Bearing’s rights as a patient and
her human dignity. The other side of that balance are the two specialist
doctors. John Hudson as the Senior Oncologist Dr Harvey Kelekian and Jordan
Rose as Fellow Dr Jason Posner are both very well-presented versions of, if
somewhat stereotyped, specialists who keep themselves above the patient that
they are dealing with, perhaps for their own sanity within a very difficult
profession.
Bearing’s intellectual response to Donne’s poetry after she
has died provides a wonderful exclamation mark to both her intellectual and
metaphorical journey and is an excellent piece of design to close the story. I
commend this production to all, despite its challenging themes.
- David Kilsby
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