WIT: LIFE LESSONS Time Off Magazine July =
21
2004
Bunbury
Theatre Company, modestly founded in a Shorncliffe
backyard in 2000, comes to prominence with its current profit-share staging=
of
Margaret Edson’s Wit. The play proves big budgets and imposing venues aren’=
;t
essential to the making of thoroughly good and satisfying theatre.
American playwright Edson worked on perf=
ecting
Wit during the 90s, through fri=
nge
and off-Broadway stages to its eventual full Broadway opening and the 1999
Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Jack Bradford, director of B=
unbury’s
version, saw an interview with the playwright and the Alliance Theatre
production in Now magic is happening on the Metro Studio stage, as a strong mix of
well established and lesser-known Local actor Caroline Kennison triumphs i=
n the
lead role of Professor Vivian Bearing, PhD, whose journey through the final
nine months of ovarian cancer functions as the ‘spine’ of the p=
lay.
But this is no sentimental journey. Vivian Bearing is among the strongest of
strong women and her dry wit has the audience seesawing gently between
compassion and laughter. Edson has fittingly made the
highly intelligent Bearing a world authority on the Holy Sonnets of early 1=
7th
Century metaphysical poet John Donne, Dean of St Paul’s in Bearing’s power and intellectual confidence in the hospital and
lecture room are expressed in a marvellous symbiosis of actor, character and
poetry. But, along with her students, the teacher has important life-lesson=
s to
learn. On a simple hospital room set (by Shane Rodwell=
),
Bearing agrees to undergo nine months of full-dosage chemotherapy, a feat no
patient has yet seen through to the end. Kennison
absorbs us into her character’s emotional journey through unbelievable
pain and scarcely admitted loneliness. Bearing’s strong-mindedness
formerly showed itself in a lack of sympathy with her students. Now, throug=
hout
her present trial, she has to swallow the bitter pill of increasing depende=
nce
on the care and loving kindness of others. The fine cast includes David Clendinning=
as
Bearing’s supportive Dr Kelekian, Miranda=
Deakin as sympathetic young nurse Susie, Michael Prie=
st as
the patient’s cancer specialist Jason Posner – ironically an
ex-student who has learned Bearing’s lessons in ambition and
perfectionism all too well – and Kaye Stevenson as her former teacher=
and
later friend Evelyn Ashford, who shares a scene of almost unbearable tender=
ness
with her ex-pupil. Ensemble actors Michael Churven,
Julie Cotterell, Kate Joseph and David Knijnenburg also contribute to the overall impact and
beauty of the play. Bunbury Theatre Company’s
production of Wit, by Margaret =
Edson, runs at Metro Arts Studio until Saturday Jul 2=
4,
Tue-Sat 8pm. Matinees: Thu 11am, Sat 2pm. Bookings: 3321 1814.
MARY NE=
METH