Rating: 
Summary: The Poor Man's Version of David Hirson's LA BETE
Review: WIT is the kind of earnest play that's hard to criticize because it's written in such unstimulatingly bland good taste. With all its quotations from John Donne, it's the sort of work that pleases middle-of-the-road theatre critics, wins a lot of prizes, and puts audiences fast to sleep. Stage poetry does not HAVE to be dull! One thinks of the linguistic thrill of David Hirson's miraculous LA BETE a few seasons ago, not to mention the dazzling wordplay of Moliere or Ionesco. WIT is never more than adequately written, and is of very little interest to anyone who relishes stage poetry.
Rating: 
Summary: A Truly prodigious play-lacking "maudlin display"
Review: "And death shall be no more, death thou shalt die." I found this play to be simply exquisite. The themes and notions of death and dying are truly poignant and most thought provoking. Every time I read it life seems so much the more precious and kind. Margaret Edson wonderfully biographizes the story of a truly witty, sharp scholar-a master piece in short.
Rating:
Summary: A Miracle of Literature!
Review: This play, as performed to perfection by Ms. Edson, is, to me, a miracle of modern literature and a tour de force in acting. If I were a woman, I would move heaven and hell to play this role. I found it quite by accident as I was channel surfing one day. Ms. Edson's acting and outstanding wit stopped me in my tracks and I sat dumbfounded and delighted throughout the performance. Based on the subject matter alone, I would never have chosen such a title - but, my God, how grateful I am to have inadvertantly stumbled upon it. Having spent many long hours attending to friends diagnosed with AIDS (the experience is quite similar to endstage Cancer), this, for me, opened doors into what the patient is feeling and the miracle of the mind to associate and disassociate as necessary. If you have experienced the end days of a loved one from such a disease - you will thank your stars for this brilliant work!
Rating: 
Summary: Wit
Review: This play tells such a beautiful story. Margaret Edson has done a wonderful job with writing characters that one can really understand and relate to. A beautifully written piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: modern morality play
Review: Vivian's malady is difficult for many an audience to absorb with detatchment and WIT(!) being as topic so familiar and close to home in many lives. The HBO movie is superb - The play is far better. Irony and nuance were not a succinctly achieved, while Paradox was defined. Much of the humorous detail of language and human interaction were lost too. The grammatical impact of using a comma vs an "!" and how her original "shakesperian" interpretation reasserted itself in her stance on life and death was not developed either. Never-the-less, the value placed on the degree of impersonal, insensitive, cold "professionalism" over appearing "pedestrian", kind, thoughtful and sincere rang true and clear.
Rating:
Summary: Everyone who treats or knows a victim of cancer: READ THIS!
Review: A short play, following the life of an acclaimed scholar of John Dunn's poetry, from the day wshe is diagnosed with cancer, through chemotherapy, until the day she dies.One aspect of this play, which recently received much press, is the inhumanity of the medical system. And this certainly comes accross loud and clear. Every doctor who treats (or researches) terminal patients should read (or see) this play. But equally important is the patient's struggle to retain control over her life. Her powerful intellect refuses to be cowed by the medical machine, and despite her pain and agony, her will triumphs in the end--despite her death. A great one night read...and if you happen to be in Chicago, check out the Goodman Theatre production.
Rating:
Summary: Coming to terms with our mortality
Review: Dr. Vivian Bearing, a professor of 17th century poetry, is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer. The play takes place over the course of Vivian's experimental treatment during the last eight months of her life. The play is Vivian's story, told to the audience from her point of view, as she comes to terms with her mortality and the life choices she has made. A renowned researcher, her entire life devoted to the study of the poetry of John Donne, Vivian finally discovers her own humanity when she becomes the "object" of study while undergoing experimental treatment for her disease at the University hospital. This is a beautifully written play that has the potential to touch audiences at a very deep level.
Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Work of Art
Review: Upon realizing that this is Margaret Edison's first play ever written, I was astonished! An extraordinary modern play touching a very sensitive, dreaded disease utilizing both "wit" and a ray of emotions in portraying a very real situation. This is one of the first times I have seen a playwright utilize her talent in both writing a marvellous play and understanding the staging in order to get it across to the audience. Margaret Edison's play "Wit" is a genuine masterpiece. I strongly recommend production of this play as I am certain of its success. I personally look forward to other works from this extremely talented lady.
Rating:
Summary: So powerful -- it will stay with you
Review: I've seen the play onstage and on HBO, so I was anxious to experience the work in written form. I was not disappointed. Somehow, Professor Bearing's journey through our tangled and misguided medical system take on new meaning when read in the quiet of one's room. While the subject matter is grim, I found Professor Bearing's struggle uplifting and hopeful. There is dignity in dying and there is life after death. Of that, I am sure.
Rating:
Summary: Wit as Art
Review: I was very encouraged by the reviews posted here by real cancer patients describing how powerfully affected they were by Margaret Edson's play. I am suddenly reminded of both the power and necessity of art as an urgent and driving form of human expression. That we can experience a fiction and take from it something that is real and applicable to our lives is truly an incredible thing. After all, without the spurring of some form of inner transformation, however minute, why would art even be necessary? When we experience a piece of art, whether we are conscious of it or not, we are seeking some sort of common ground, some sort of recognizable truth with or within that piece. Some of us may find this in a particular work, some of us may not. But the validation of one person validates the entire piece. Margaret Edson has been justly applauded for producing a work of art that has elicited a spiritual validation from those who are old, young, ill, and healthy, alike. It is truly a work that will weather the ages.
|
