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Nothing funny about Wit
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July 28, 2009
 By Sally Scott
WIT
PERFORMERS: Clare Mortimer, Jimmy Lithgow, Neil Coppen, Olivia Borgen, Alison Cassels, Karen Logan, Clinton Small, Sean de Klerk
DIRECTOR: Steven Stead
WHERE: Loft, Playhouse
WHEN: Ended Sunday. Will run at Hilton Festival in September.
RATING: *****
It took 11 days for my father to die - of bile duct cancer. We stayed by his hospital bedside.
Often in excruciating pain, my dad, would, occasionally reach consciousness, demand paper and pen and start doing mathematical problems -to make sure his mind hadn't given up on him. He died, on December 23. Outside his room nurses, in festive tat, were carolling.
'Twas the season to be jolly, the 'sting' of death had no place - there was one wonderful, understanding nurse - the superb Olivia Borgen plays just such a character here.
Despite, the subject, US writer Margaret Edson's remarkable work, with death from cancer at its core, does not plummet its audience into instant depression. Edson's protagonist, academic Dr Vivian Bearing, is an erudite woman, with a sharp wit which produces some darkly comic laughs.
The KickstArt production was the sell-out 'best of the fest' at this year's National Arts Festival in Grahamstown. Edson attended, sponsored by the US Embassy, commenting, at one point, that her play is 'first and foremost about kindness'.
Between earning degrees in history and literature, Edson worked in the oncology/HIV unit of a major research hospital. Hence her acute understanding of the subject.
Wit was Edson's first play, rejected often, until 1995, when the intuitive, provocative piece finally found its audience, winning the Pulitzer prize for drama and, later, picking up an Emmy, as an HBO TV special starring Emma Thompson as the renowned academic/ lecturer, dying of 'fourth stage' terminal ovarian cancer.
On introduction, Bearing (Clare Mortimer, giving the most courageous, fiercely compelling and unflinching performance of her life) has just been diagnosed.
Her cancer is 'advanced'. The prognosis dire.
She has donned that backless monstrosity 'gown', taken to her hospital bed and announced her intention to tough it out. She will take the arduous 'full dose' chemotherapy course - she is ready for the challenge.
After all, this searingly intellectual professor, a teacher of 17th-century poetry, specialising in the sonnets of metaphysical poet John Donne, has made 'an immense contribution to literature'. She is still a 'force' to be reckoned with.
But, with no small dose of black humour, and despite managing, at first, to see some comedy in the standard ward greeting of 'how are we feeling today?' (fabulous, that's why I'm here ...), Bearing has already told us: 'It is not my intention to give away the plot, but I think I die at the end.
'They have given me less than two hours.'
We know this denouement will not be good, but, it's what happens in between which concerns us.
As Bearing is forced to reassess her life, the perfect balance of her studious and somewhat lonely existence tips.
Whether it be one of her students, squandering precious time during a lecture, or Dr Kerlekian (a rather well-balanced performance by Jimmy Lithgow), her oncology specialist, verbal gaffes, this scholar suffers fools badly.
Still, despite the exasperation of Kerlekian's constant throw- away salutation to 'keep pushing the fluids', Bearing has recognised a fellow academic. At one point they touch on their mutual exasperation over unworthy students.
Kerlekian's assistant, Dr Jason Posner (gifted actor and playwright Neil Coppen is excellent ), is a bright former student of Bearing's who, despite gaining an A- in Donne, opted for biochemistry.
Like Bearing, he revels in the pursuit of knowledge. Bearing has always been uncompromising with her students, she now faces a similar lack of compassion. Posner's bedside manner is nil.
This lack of compassion and understanding of Bearing's journey into the finite, is Edson's main thrust.
As excruciating chemo sessions strip away the tough exterior: 'I'm a scholar - well I was when I had shoes,' Bearing re-discovers her own humanity, a need for contact and kindness.
A particularly touching scene sees the wonderful Alison Cassels enfold Bearing, her former student, in her arms.
Under Steven Stead's sympathetic and impressive direction, shaven-headed Mortimer delivers a committed, courageous and compelling performance.
With excellent support from an exceptional cast, this is a showcase for Mortimer - at her most mesmerising.
I was not the only audience member in tears after the finale, which gives Greg King's extraordinary stark, net-curtained white hospital room set, atmospherically lit by Tina le Roux, a fitting finale of its own.
Yes, this journey shows the indignities of cancer, the pain devouring the very soul, but, overall, this is a mental boost to the spirit.
A rare and special work from a truly dedicated theatrical team.
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