THEATRE: W;T

Vivian Bearing is a professor of 17th century poetry, specialising in the works of John Donne. She is unmarried, childless and lives for her work, a dedicated and unrelenting teacher and academic. She also has stage four ovarian cancer. Margaret Edsons’s W;t follows Vivian as she undergoes eight brutal months of intense treatment from doctors who are cold in their approach and see her as nothing more than a study to use for research purposes. She tries to deal with her illness and treatment in the exact same way she deals with her studies, drawing upon her intellect as a way of avoiding her emotions. But as her health declines Vivian struggles to keep her pain and emotions at bay. And she soon realises that the thing she really needs and wants is love and kindness. While death is the obvious driving force of the story, it is not the most important theme. W;t reflects on what’s truly important in life and just how fleeting time can be. “The play is not about doctors or even cancer,” playwright Margaret Edson explains. “It’s about kindness, but it shows arrogance. It’s about compassion but it shows insensitivity.” And by showing the opposite of kindness the audience is made to desire it more than ever. Unfortunately, this wasn’t executed as well as it could have been. Some of the performances felt forced and a couple of the players seemed to favour overacting in search of a laugh, to the detriment of the script. It was distracting and lessened my connection to the story. That said, there are standout moments. Karen Bayly performed well as Vivian and Shondelle Pratt is endearing as the bubbly nurse Susie. One of the final scenes between Vivian and her old college professor (a stellar performance by Margaret McManus) was genuinely moving and brought tears to my eyes, a credit to the actresses’ skill and their commitment to the script’s themes. Set designer James Croke has crafted a smart set that makes excellent use of the New Theatre’s relatively small stage, and cleverly interprets the script’s interchanging setting. This Pulitzer Prize-winning play evokes as much emotion as it does thought. It’s a brave choice for any director let alone one who has never before directed a full-length play but first-timer Jane Eakin has embraced the challenge. And while certain aspects have fallen short of the mark, it’s still a solid performance with content that’s strong enough to fill the gaps.

Until Jul 10, New Theatre, King St, Newtown, $10-28, 1300 306 776, mca-tix.com.au