Wit to explore a patient's final thoughts

Playwright Margaret Edson won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for drama for "Wit." She grew up in Washington D.C. with parents involved in journalism and medical social work. She began writing the play in the summer of 1991 before she enrolled in the English graduate program at Georgetown University. She now teaches sixth grade social studies in Atlanta, Georgia, with no plans to write another play.

Vivian Bearing, the main character in the play, is a college professor dying of ovarian cancer. Using the same dedication and rational probing she used with 17th century poetry, she reassesses her life. Her revelations, many based on use of wit in the metaphysical poetry of John Donne, comfort her through the indignities of her medical treatments.

Interviews with the actors can be seen in the online video,"Behind the Scenes."

A review by Peter Marks in The New York Times said that audiences will feel both enlightened and, in a strange way, enormously comforted.

The HBO production of “Wit,” starring Emma Thompson, won the Emmy for Best Film in 2001.

For tickets, call the box office at 308-432-6207 or email boxoffice@csc.edu.