WiT........

by Margaret Edson

                                                                       Vivian Bearing:        Christine Connor
                                                Professor  Ashford:        Sandi McDonald
                        Dr. Harvey Kelekian/Mr. Bearing:       David Warnock
                                              Susie Monahan R.N.:       Kate Mahoney
                                                    Dr. Jason Posner:       Judson Pierce
                                                     Medical students:      John Taoultsides;  Amy DeMarco;

                                                                                       Kate Kisselstein; Jennifer Bubriski

WiT....  is a play about love, personal redemption and grace. The play is also a lesson for the living! The through line of the play is captured in one connecting line: "Hi, How are you feeling today?" Even though these words are spoken, few people really listen or care about the answer. Although we know from the opening scene that Vivian Bearing will die…the play explores the whole issue of human rights. Humanity and humiliation are set in opposition to one another throughout Bearing’s stay at the hospital. What right do patients have? Do they have the right to privacy? Do they have the right to know the chances of their survival? Do they have the right to dignity? Do they have the right to determine the manner of their deaths?

Edson has stated that her play is about redemption--but it is recovery of human rights and a sense of humanity that Bearing wins at the end of the play. Her awakening to the fact through her own humiliation, that human rights are more important than human knowledge is her awakening. She is denied those rights when her doctors treat her body without considering her mind and her emotions.

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