Jane Montgomery Griffiths and Jing Xuan Chan in Wit. Photograph by Lachlan Woods.
Artisan collective’s production of Wit, directed by Ben Pfeiffer, is outstanding theatre informed by something approaching the visionary, and enjoys performances that will stay with you for years. Jane Montgomery Griffiths plays academic Vivian Bearing, an intimidating presence who opens the play by saying she doesn’t want to give away the plot but she thinks she dies at the end. Bearing has discovered she has ovarian cancer and agrees to undergo an experimental series of chemotherapy treatments which will test her endurance to the utmost. Bearing has dedicated her career to the work of John Donne; in her rarefied academic world, as she says, she is somebody: the best, in fact. Wit – without voyeurism and with neither sentimentality nor avoidance of the vicious business of this sort of demise – allows us to witness Bearing’s physical unravelling alongside an increasing understanding that her ferocious intellect is less of an ally in death than it’s been in life.
Artisan Collective uses Donne’s Holy Sonnets sung acappella and music (Sufi trance compositions) by Russian mystic Gurdjieff to create atmosphere, to remind us of the refined world of the mind that has been Vivian’s life up til now. The set design is simple with neon lit frames suggesting the white coldness of hospital but also portals and doorways.
As her health fails Dr Bearing comes to depend more and more on her medical team led by Dr Kelekian (Rhys McConnochie who also plays Vivian’s father). Yet there is only one, nurse Susie (Jing-Xuan Chan), who understands what she needs. At the end kindness is all that matters and Dr Bearing reflects that she herself has been less kind than she should have. The character of Jason Posner (Mick Lo Monaco) is the medical equivalent of Vivian; less interested in the person than the challenges of the case. Scenes of the insensitive treatment of Vivian in hospital are galling. A later moment sees Bearing’s former inspiration and teacher, Professor Ashford (Helen Morse), arrive to read her a last bedtime story – a scene of emotional and psychological radiance.
This is a mighty play; Edson won the Pulitzer for it. It pops and pings – as you’d expect – with sly and with overt wit; the script is generous, intimate and unashamedly, refreshingly intellectual. The text is dryly self-aware, knows how to balance sadness and humour and its engagement with language is thrilling. What we get here are astonishing performances from some of Australia’s best, with the timing and pacing of the business on stage finely tuned to honour the dramatic momentum.
Montgomery Griffiths is superlative, her research into the effects of chemotherapy on the body shows to sometimes excoriating effect in her performance. This reviewer is struggling somewhat to express how impressive this production is. We’ve nearly all got some connection to cancer, but in any case Wit is a story for everyone. This narrative marrying literature and medicine is also one of the most downright interesting plays I’ve seen. Go and see it and you’ll never forget it.
Rating: 4 ½ stars out of 5
Wit
Cast: Jane Montgomery Griffiths, Helen Morse, Rhys McConnochie, Jing Xuan Chan, Mick Lo Monaco, Dean Cartmel and Zoe Ellertson-Ashley
Director: Ben Pfeiffer
Set Designer: Jeminah Alli Reidy
Sound Designer: Adam Casey
Lighting Designer: Benjamin Morris
Choral Director: Cameron Thomas
The Artisan Collective
in association with fortyfivedownstairs
1–17 September 2016​
