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w i t
by margaret
e d s o n
7
April 8, 2001
To Kim Crow, Bob Cacioppo and cast --
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your extraordinary production, 'W;t' -- Kim, your performance (which was all too real to be called simply a 'performance') brought back the events of 1993 in a way that, hopefully, you'll never know. My daughter, Meg, who was diagnosed with lymphoma -- she lives in Minnesota. I live here in Florida. I was there with her for the operation which was almost precisely eight years ago -- the Monday before Easter -- but I couldn't be with her throughout the grueling months of chemotherapy.
While there that week, I watched as she lay on the cold metal 'slab' which moved her through the CAT-scan -- (Why do those rooms have the cold-blue fluorescent tubes, giving an emotional chill to what is already a frightening experience?) Seeing, in 'W;t', a view of what she went through -- not 'alone' like Dr. Vivian Bearing but with a husband who couldn't 'deal with it'; an aloneness more lonely than being 'alone' -- I cried for my daughter all over again, and I guess for myself, too, for not having been able to be with her.
There are many aspects surrounding the disease, dying and death: I'm sure just about everyone who saw the play has been touched by its themes at some time in their lives -- But I want to thank you for a catharsis which has been waiting in the wings for me these past eight years. --
My daughter lives! Thankfully, she's been cancer-free these years. We talked, after seeing 'W;t' and she's now able to deal with the emotional toll -- We talked before, all through the months of chemo, but so many things stood in the way of understanding back then -- This was good! Her life is good -- she has since written a sort of play of her own, encompassing not only her own feelings but the responses of her family and friends -- a 'working through,' if you will -- and this, our most recent conversation, thanks to your 'Dr. Bearing', Kim, and your production, Bob, brought a level of understanding and closure for us both --
Thank you, one and all, from this member of your audience and her daughter.
Sincerely.
There are many aspects surrounding the disease, dying and death: I'm sure just about everyone who saw the play has been touched by its themes at some time in their lives -- But I want to thank you for a catharsis which has been waiting in the wings for me these past eight years. --
My daughter lives! Thankfully, she's been cancer-free these years. We talked, after seeing 'W;t' and she's now able to deal with the emotional toll -- We talked before, all through the months of chemo, but so many things stood in the way of understanding back then -- This was good! Her life is good -- she has since written a sort of play of her own, encompassing not only her own feelings but the responses of her family and friends -- a 'working through,' if you will -- and this, our most recent conversation, thanks to your 'Dr. Bearing', Kim, and your production, Bob, brought a level of understanding and closure for us both --
Thank you, one and all, from this member of your audience and her daughter.
Sincerely.
Lucy, Countess of Bedford with the terrific Katie Johnson at the Florida Theatre.
With Jayne Wilson as Susie Monahan: fever-and-neutropenia scene at the Florida Theatre.
