Presumably there exists a play both profound and uplifting, but in the realm of theater, most often profundity and despair go hand in hand. Such is the case with Margaret Edson's "W;t," or so it appears. The movingly realized story of 50-year-old professor Vivian Bearing's battle with stage four ovarian cancer, "W;t" exists a breath away from sentimentality, but thanks to acerbic Vivian's crisp judgments, never takes a turn for the maudlin. Believable in her prime as a dogged scholar and inflexible teacher, in her youth as a five-year-old falling in love with words, and finally, as a woman in the last throes of a devastating disease, Alexandra Main renders Vivian in all her paradoxical glory (and measures up to Emma Thompson's memorable HBO portrayal).
"W;t" might have benefited from a more measured pace, a few extra beats taken throughout. As a group the cast was consistently genuine, Anna Carini standing out as plain-spoken nurse, Susie, her unaffected line delivery a gust of fresh air.
In writing the 95-minute show, Edson made a number of gutsy choices, in effect showing trust in her audience's intellectual capacity. She broke the fourth wall, allowing Vivian to address the audience and served up an academic stew of medical terminology and 17th century metaphysical poetry. Most significantly, she wrote a witty play about cancer. Any of these choices could have derailed "W;t," but Edson's command of her material, not to mention director Jown Gawlik's capable execution, kept the play smoothly on track.
While "W;t" may not be uplifting in a simple sense, in a more complex way, it serves to minimize differences between members of different castes in America's concealed caste system. We may be academics, scientists or nurses, but essentially, we're all the same.
Reviewed by Centerstage!
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