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w i t
by margaret
e d s o n
8
Tuesday, May 22, 2001
'W;t' finds hope amid woman's final hours of life
By Charlie Patton, Times-Union staff writer (excerpts)
Kim Crow calls Margaret Edson's W;t 'the most brilliant modern script I've ever come across.'
Crow so loved the role of Vivian Bearing, a brilliant but emotionally brittle professor of 17th century poetry who is dying of cancer, that as soon as she finished playing Bearing in the Florida Repertory Theatre's production of W;t in Fort Myers, she came to Jacksonville to repeat the experience, shaved head and all.
Playing Bearing has been 'the most gratifying, incredible experience of my career . . . a privileged and passionate pilgrimage,' she said.
W;t (the unusual spelling of "wit" comes from Bearing's obsession with punctuation) is, everyone agrees, not an easy play to embrace. When it opened off-Broadway in 1999, there was no intermission because the producers feared audience members wouldn't come back if they had an excuse to leave.
'It's a two-hour monologue from a woman, the last two hours of her life,' Crow said.
Not that people should view W;t as foul-tasting medicine that happens to be good for you, Crow said. 'The play is raucously funny. That's the saving grace. It's very theatrical, it's beautifully written and it's funnier than hell. It's a roller coaster.'
'W;t' finds hope amid woman's final hours of life
By Charlie Patton, Times-Union staff writer (excerpts)
Kim Crow calls Margaret Edson's W;t 'the most brilliant modern script I've ever come across.'
Crow so loved the role of Vivian Bearing, a brilliant but emotionally brittle professor of 17th century poetry who is dying of cancer, that as soon as she finished playing Bearing in the Florida Repertory Theatre's production of W;t in Fort Myers, she came to Jacksonville to repeat the experience, shaved head and all.
Playing Bearing has been 'the most gratifying, incredible experience of my career . . . a privileged and passionate pilgrimage,' she said.
W;t (the unusual spelling of "wit" comes from Bearing's obsession with punctuation) is, everyone agrees, not an easy play to embrace. When it opened off-Broadway in 1999, there was no intermission because the producers feared audience members wouldn't come back if they had an excuse to leave.
'It's a two-hour monologue from a woman, the last two hours of her life,' Crow said.
Not that people should view W;t as foul-tasting medicine that happens to be good for you, Crow said. 'The play is raucously funny. That's the saving grace. It's very theatrical, it's beautifully written and it's funnier than hell. It's a roller coaster.'
I met you one night after rehearsals for WIT in Jacksonville, Florida when I came to see my friend Jayne who was in the production. The next night I came to see it and I was so moved by your performance. It is very rare that in the theatreas an actor myself-- that I think of moments in my own life and the lives of my family when I am watching a performance but watching you as Vivian batteling and then dieing of cancer I was moved. One particular moment in my life that thought of watching the show was when the machines were going off was when I was a kid and my father was in the hospital also battleing cancer --who is now in remission and has been for almost 15 years-- when his machines went off and nobody told this little boy what was happening to his father. I just want to thank-you so much for making a night out at the theatre I moving experience. To me that is what theatre is all about, touching others lives. I hope to see you someday soon somewhere on stage.
Love,
