Wit's star performance
Star performance raises 'Wit' to a spiritual level
SundayNews (Lancaster, PA)
February 1, 2004
By MaryAlice Bitts
In “Wit,” there’s nothing between Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., and the audience but a thin hospital gown and the sheer force of her bright, brisk personality.
Any other character would appear vulnerable and small. But not Vivian.
Her radiant face glowing beneath a vibrant-red baseball cap, she inhabits the gown as if she were born into it. This is true magnetism, with attitude to spare.
The audience is right there with her as she combats ovarian cancer in this Fulton Opera House production that opened Thursday and continues through Feb. 15.
Vivian, played by Jane Ridley, is a distinguished scholar specializing in the works of 17th-century poet John Donne, a writer who, Vivian asserts, makes Shakespeare look like a lightweight.
“Wit,” which last season reached millions as a critically lauded HBO movie starring Emma Thompson, was first a success on and off-Broadway, garnering numerous awards including the 1999 Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics’ mantle of Best Play. It also won a Pulitzer Prize.
It’s easy to see where the latter honor came from. This is the stuff Pulitzers are made of – works that tug at the heart and stimulate the brain; that buzz around in the collective social consciousness, and make us look at our world a little more closely than before.
The only thing that sets this work apart from many Pulitzer productions is that, true to its name, “Wit” also possesses a biting, often amusing humor that transforms what would otherwise be 90 minutes of gut-wrenching sorrow into a thought-provoking triumph of the human spirit.
Intriguingly complex
“Wit” is not run-of-the-mill theater fare. The script touches on a complex, nuanced realm of emotions, and since this show has no intermission, the actors must maintain particularly high emotional energy without becoming overbearing.
The play and the Fulton actors are up to it.
Jack Reiling shines as one of Edson’s former students, the squirming, disconnected researcher, Jason Posner; Lillie Richardson evokes wide-eyed compassion as Vivian’s nurse, Susie; J.R. Robinson is properly, cooly adept as Vivian’s doctor, Dr. Kelekian; and returning Fulton favorite Peg Small provides the play’s most poignant scene — and some vital character insight as Vivian’s professor, E.M. Ashford.
But “Wit” rises and sets on Ridley, and she comes through beautifully. She delivers Edson’s drollery with light-as-air charisma. Her Vivian truly is, in the character’s own words, “a force.”
As she tries to distance herself from the harrowing situation of whether or not to submit to the grueling, experimental therapy, she hides behind an ascerbic wit and intellect.
Her direct asides deepen the bond between actress and audience.
Resident designer Robert Klingelhoefer’s set bears particular mention, too. With the collaboration of lighting designer John Himmelberger and videographer Adam Larson, words and images projected onto tall screens at the back of the sparsely furnished stage change in both subject and color, according to Vivian’s frame of mind. It enhances the play and the performance’s emotional, psychological and visual depth.
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SundayNews (Lancaster, PA)
February 1, 2004
By MaryAlice Bitts
In “Wit,” there’s nothing between Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., and the audience but a thin hospital gown and the sheer force of her bright, brisk personality.
Any other character would appear vulnerable and small. But not Vivian.
Her radiant face glowing beneath a vibrant-red baseball cap, she inhabits the gown as if she were born into it. This is true magnetism, with attitude to spare.
The audience is right there with her as she combats ovarian cancer in this Fulton Opera House production that opened Thursday and continues through Feb. 15.
Vivian, played by Jane Ridley, is a distinguished scholar specializing in the works of 17th-century poet John Donne, a writer who, Vivian asserts, makes Shakespeare look like a lightweight.
“Wit,” which last season reached millions as a critically lauded HBO movie starring Emma Thompson, was first a success on and off-Broadway, garnering numerous awards including the 1999 Drama Desk and New York Drama Critics’ mantle of Best Play. It also won a Pulitzer Prize.
It’s easy to see where the latter honor came from. This is the stuff Pulitzers are made of – works that tug at the heart and stimulate the brain; that buzz around in the collective social consciousness, and make us look at our world a little more closely than before.
The only thing that sets this work apart from many Pulitzer productions is that, true to its name, “Wit” also possesses a biting, often amusing humor that transforms what would otherwise be 90 minutes of gut-wrenching sorrow into a thought-provoking triumph of the human spirit.
Intriguingly complex
“Wit” is not run-of-the-mill theater fare. The script touches on a complex, nuanced realm of emotions, and since this show has no intermission, the actors must maintain particularly high emotional energy without becoming overbearing.
The play and the Fulton actors are up to it.
Jack Reiling shines as one of Edson’s former students, the squirming, disconnected researcher, Jason Posner; Lillie Richardson evokes wide-eyed compassion as Vivian’s nurse, Susie; J.R. Robinson is properly, cooly adept as Vivian’s doctor, Dr. Kelekian; and returning Fulton favorite Peg Small provides the play’s most poignant scene — and some vital character insight as Vivian’s professor, E.M. Ashford.
But “Wit” rises and sets on Ridley, and she comes through beautifully. She delivers Edson’s drollery with light-as-air charisma. Her Vivian truly is, in the character’s own words, “a force.”
As she tries to distance herself from the harrowing situation of whether or not to submit to the grueling, experimental therapy, she hides behind an ascerbic wit and intellect.
Her direct asides deepen the bond between actress and audience.
Resident designer Robert Klingelhoefer’s set bears particular mention, too. With the collaboration of lighting designer John Himmelberger and videographer Adam Larson, words and images projected onto tall screens at the back of the sparsely furnished stage change in both subject and color, according to Vivian’s frame of mind. It enhances the play and the performance’s emotional, psychological and visual depth.
Go to the Top
Labels: fulton opera house, mary alice bitts, MaryAlice Bitts, witf
posted by MaryAlice Bitts at 9:33 AM
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