Scan barcode
A review by readingisadoingword
Wit: A Play by Margaret Edson
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
W;t was another outstanding choice for the #12PlaysIn12Months readalong.
Professor Vivian Bearing has been diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. During the play, she narrates her experience of being treated in her university research hospital.
This is a short and sad play. Vivian is a dedicated and somewhat ruthless academic, an expert on the sonnets of John Donne. Her academic fervour leads to her agreeing to particularly agressive treatment, to contribute to the research at her university hospital.
The play examines the distance between research and humanity, between treatment and care and how sometimes we learn lessons too late. Wishing for kindness when it's not been something she herself doles out, causes Vivian to see the worth in the humanity of her Nurse in comparison to the detachment of the research intern and her doctor. Is she a human being or a research subject?
Vivian's character was not particularly likeable, but she didn't have to be. This play showed how cancer can humiliate and dehumanise someone and also how the smallest human gesture can mean so much.
A quick, impactful read.
Professor Vivian Bearing has been diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer. During the play, she narrates her experience of being treated in her university research hospital.
This is a short and sad play. Vivian is a dedicated and somewhat ruthless academic, an expert on the sonnets of John Donne. Her academic fervour leads to her agreeing to particularly agressive treatment, to contribute to the research at her university hospital.
The play examines the distance between research and humanity, between treatment and care and how sometimes we learn lessons too late. Wishing for kindness when it's not been something she herself doles out, causes Vivian to see the worth in the humanity of her Nurse in comparison to the detachment of the research intern and her doctor. Is she a human being or a research subject?
Vivian's character was not particularly likeable, but she didn't have to be. This play showed how cancer can humiliate and dehumanise someone and also how the smallest human gesture can mean so much.
A quick, impactful read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Terminal illness, Cancer, and Death