Wit: A Play by Margaret Edson Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Wit: A Play
Book Review: Just Read Wit
Summary: 5 Stars
This is by far one of the most powerful plays to come out of the American theater in the past ten years. Even if you aren't a theater buff or like to read plays you must read Wit. It also won the pulitzer prize this year, if that makes any diiference to you. If you or anyone you've know has had cancer, it's an honest insight into how one woman copes with the diesase. Beautiful writing.Book Review: Life with Style
Summary: 5 Stars
I was captivated by the synopsis I read and could not wait to read the play. It seems almost heartless to say "it's a great read" - vital intelligent woman dying of cancer - but it is! Now I've had the opportunity to see W;t on stage and the power of the written word was brilliantly brought to life by the Ensemble Theatre in Sydney Australia.
The character of Vivianne Bearing created by Margaret Edson, exhibits the strengths and weaknesses of real women in the same siutation. The ending is so powerful and reflected for me the death of a loved one, who died with a look of triumph on her face.
Read it! See it! This is a play with a long shelf life.
Book Review: MOVED BEYOND TEARS
Summary: 5 Stars
The w;t of this poignant peice of insanely beautiful art lies not just within the dialogue, but within the author's uncanny ability to make her audience FEEL. Vivian is real. You cannot pass her off as a character flaw, because she is what lies within all of us. Her strength is astonishing. Her pain is heartrending. Her death is devastating. Believe you me, YOU DO NOT WANT TO SEE VIVIAN BERRING DIE. You are there with her, mind, body, and soul, and it will astound you almost beyond comprehension when you realize that you do not only sympathize with this character, but you care for her as well. Margaret Edson should be praised on the highest level, with praise that no award, no matter how grand (the pulitzer), can account for. Not only is the dialogue witty and funny, it is human. It is humane. Edson has touched a part of the human soul that has remained dormant since childhood. That is, Vivian eventually must come to terms with the knowledge that she will die, and that pristine child-like innocence that comes with birth, and eventually with death, returns to her. Even after the "no-nonsense" persona she puts out, even this innocence touches Vivian. Read this play. It will change your life.Book Review: Must read, from both sides of the fence
Summary: 5 Stars
Originally saw the play performed at Kennedy Center. Unfortunately, I missed some essential aspects of the (primarily) monologue due to the overt reactions of members of the audience around me. Judith Light was embarking on John Donne's version of wit, and I was holding the hand of the sobbing man next to me (my husband was holding my other hand, and had a few teary moments as well). My husband recognized his own need for further understanding of "w;t" as well as my own wish for comprehension, so he purchased the screenplay and we both read it.Cynics are welcome to react with the generic approach to research, and oncology's dispassionate involvement between physician and patient. For those of us who have braved the ordeal of loving a professor, a physician, a mother, a father, a child, a friend, a neighbor, a professional and/or a technician, I dare say that everyone of us has known at least one other who has undergone the transformation from one state of being to succumbing to the state of being that is succinctly titled as: cancer patient.
"W;t" does not mire anyone in the lonliness that is the 50 year old professor with no immediate family and whose main claim to fame is her incredible knowledge of the famed poet John Dunne. For those of us who have read and been moved by "Death Be Not Proud," Dunne has already touched our lives (for me, it was required reading in seventh grade). What I missed in the theater production, I received twice again in the reading of the screenplay.
I laud all who created what is "W;t" and only pity those who choose to neglect it.
Book Review: No wonder it won a Pulitzer
Summary: 5 Stars
Wit was recommended as a staff pick at my local library. Thank goodness! I doubt I would have found it otherwise, since I don't generally read play scripts.
Even though I'm an old English major from way back, I never studied John Donne's poetry in depth. The way Edson weaves the poetry with Vivian Bearing's growing realization that Donne spoke to her on an intimate level - what after all could be more intimate than the process of dying? - led me to examine some of my own preconceived notions of mortality and its relationship to the immortal.
That last paragraph of mine makes it sound as if this is heavy reading. Not at all! It is a multi-layered work, both grim and light, both stark and richly peopled. I loved the humor, the most notable of which is the line near the end, when Vivian is receiving a dose of morphine for her excruciating pain. She says that she wonders if the morphine will have a soporific effect. "I don't know about that," says her nurse, "but it sure does make you sleepy."
I took a chance and rented the Emma Thompson DVD. I don't trust movies ever to live up to the books they're based on - but I truly wondered how they'd handle a film version. I recommend the movie thoroughly, for it remains true to Edson's quirky way of blending past and present, ignoring the stuffy fourth wall that so many playwrights insist on.
WIT is witty. WIT is sad. WIT is a must-read.
And just wait till you find out why the I in WIT is (on the cover of the book) a semi-colon.