Continuing its tradition of presenting powerful and compelling work on the Melbourne stage, fortyfivedownstairs in association with The Artisan Collective present the premiere season of Margaret Edson’s Wit.
What would you do if you suddenly found out you were going to die? Vivian Bearing (Jane Montgomery Griffiths) is a brilliant and uncompromising professor of English Literature who has spent years specialising in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne.
Diagnosed with stage four ovarian cancer, she agrees to undergo an experimental chemotherapy treatment that (although not guaranteed to save her) will provide excellent research data for the future of oncology. Learning everything she can about the disease and constantly at the mercy of the doctors in authority, the teacher has now become the student…
A poignant and humorous look at life, death, poetry, and compassion, Wit is widely circulated as compulsory viewing for medical students. Utilised as a training video on patient/doctor relationships, and how to manage the terminally ill.
Playing on stages worldwide, Wit has also been adapted into an HBO film, walking away with several Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG and Peabody Awards. Winner of the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama and comprising a cast of Australian theatre royalty, including Jane Montgomery Griffiths, AACTA award winning Helen Morse and Rhys McConnochie; this season is set to be a truly special theatrical experience.
Director: Ben Pfeiffer Featuring: Jane Montgomery Griffiths, Helen Morse, Rhys McConnochie, Jing Xuan Chan, Mick Lo Monaco, Dean Cartmel, Zoe Ellerton-Ashley Set Design: Jeminah Alli Reidy Sound Design: Adam Casey Lighting Design: Benjamin Morris Choral Direction: Cameron Thomas Produced by: Cameron Lukey
Wit
fortyfivedownstairs, 45 Flinders Lane, Melbourne
Season: 1 – 17 September 2016 (preview: 31 August)
Bookings: www.fortyfivedownstairs.com
For more information, visit: www.theartisancollective.com for details.
Image: Jane Montgomery Griffiths features in Wit – photo by Pia Johnson