Media release
KickstArt presents Margaret Edson's Wit
Playwright Margaret Edson comes to Grahamstown
Playhouse Loft Theatre: 21 - 26 July
Hilton Arts Festival: 20 September
Wit is that rare beast: art that engages both the heart and the mind.
In Wit, Edson delves into timeless questions with no final answers:
How should we live our lives knowing that we will die?
KickstArt presents Margaret Edson's multi-award winning play, Wit, which opens in Grahamstown at the National Arts Festival, before coming to the Playhouse Loft in July for a short season and the Hilton Festival in September for one performance only.
"We just wanted to share some wonderful news related to our forthcoming production of Wit. It has been confirmed that the playwright, Pulitzer Prize winner, Margaret Edson will be attending our premiere of this production on the Main National Arts Festival in Grahamstown on 9 July courtesy of the US Embassy," says director Steven Stead.
"We are extremely honoured and very motivated! We start rehearsals on Monday 8 June, and are well into preparation for what we hope will be our most exciting drama production to date," says Stead.
Wit stars the hugely talented Clare Mortimer, along with a multi-award winning supporting cast including Neil Coppen, Liv Borgen, Alison Cassels and Jimmy Lithgow. The two KZN stagings mark the first time this drama is being presented in KZN.
The play begins with Vivian Bearing (Clare Mortimer), a renowned professor of English saying, "It is not my intention to give away the plot, but I think I die at the end. They've given me less than two hours." Vivian has late-stage ovarian cancer. But to say that Wit is about cancer is misleading; it is really about finding a balance between head and heart. The play isn't a tearful lecture on how to die; it's a dry-eyed lesson on how to live. It is a play about language and ideas, philosophy and religion. It is at once funny, sad, tragic and life-affirming, complex and simple. The New York Times critic called Wit, "the kind of theatrical experience of which legends are made."
Margaret Edson, an American playwright and kindergarten teacher, considers herself first an educator and then a playwright, although her play has won many prestigious awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1999.
Wit will be staged at the Grahamstown Festival from 9 - 11 July; at the Playhouse Loft Theatre from 21 - 26 July for seven performances only; and Hilton Arts Festival for one performance only on 20 September. Full details on the KicksArt website.
Wit is supported by the Grahamstown National Arts Festival and the National Arts Council. Book at Computicket nationwide
Photographs and interviews on request
Contact Illa or Sophie at Publicity Matters
3 June 2009
BOOKING: www.ticket.co.za / 073 725 7381
ENQUIRIES: catherine.pisanti@wits.ac.za / 011 717 1376
Tickets are reasonably priced at R40 for all – available from www.ticket.co.za or 073 725 7381. Light meals and a full cash bar can be enjoyed in Café Dulce, situated in the Wits Theatre Foyer. Free, covered parking in the adjacent Senate House (the entrance is on Jorissen Street) ensures peace of mind. Complimentary tickets are available to the media on request.
