B tackles life and death through a unique collaboration

By Alicia Underlee Nelson

There are a handful of iconic female roles in theatre; characters like Juliet in Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” and Blanche de Bois in Tennessee Williams’ “A Streetcar Named Desire.” Theatre B director David Wintersteen would add the complex protagonist in Margaret Edson’s “Wit,” Vivian Bearing Ph.D, to that list. The play opened Theatre B’s twelfth season last month and continues its run through October 18.

“This is a bucket-list role for an actress,” said David. “This is a great role, a Pulitzer Prize winning script, a beautiful play.”

Carrie Wintersteen, an acclaimed local actress and a founding member of Theatre B, portrays Vivian in the Theatre B production. She also happens to be David’s wife and collaborator.

Carrie was happy to have David at her side as she dug into such a complex script. Her character, Vivian, is a brilliant academic, a professor who specializes in the sonnets of John Donne. These dense, metaphysical poems explore life, death and salvation. She is also battling ovarian cancer.

“This character is both wrestling with death as an academic exercise and the very immediate, concrete, physical struggle of chemotherapy,” David said. “So it’s both a play about the life of the mind and about the life of the body.”

“She (Vivian) talks about the way that she would study a poem as directly parallel to the way that the doctors are now studying her,” said Carrie. “It’s beautiful that there’s this poetry that ends up being the vehicle for a conversation about cancer.”

Despite the weighty subject matter, “it’s not some kind of a weighty, downer event,” said David. “There’s a levity to it, there’s a lightness, there’s humor -- I mean, the play is called ‘Wit.’ There’s no shortage of humor, which helps to leaven it.”

Vivian’s soaring intellect makes up the core of her character. But honestly portraying her struggle to reconcile her analytical nature with the emotional ups and downs of cancer treatment is what brings the role to life for an actress and for audiences.

To give Vivian and her world a heightened sense of realism, Theatre B’s production of “Wit” partnered with individuals who knew about these struggles firsthand -- doctors, cancer patients and cancer survivors.

Through a unique partnership between Sanford Health, the University of North Dakota School of Medicine & Health Sciences and the Embrace Cancer Survivorship Program, the cast of “Wit” spent much of its rehearsal time listening and learning. “It’s wonderful to have this extra support to really inform how we present the play,” says Carrie.

The resident physicians at UND and the doctors at Sanford provided valuable insight into the play and its world. They gave the actors and director a new perspective on the play’s setting, explained medical terminology and discussed the emotional implications of each diagnosis.

The staff and survivors at Embrace shared their stories and gave Carrie a deeper understanding of the struggles her character faced. Carrie even took part in a Stage IV breast and ovarian cancer support group, an intimate invitation that still clearly fills her with emotion. “I’m so grateful that they want to be open to this experience and help guide me,” she said.

“Wit” Margaret Edson

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September 25 – October 18

Theatre B

716 Main Avenue

Fargo, ND

701-729-8880 theatreb.org tix@theatreb.org

Box Office Hours:

Monday-Friday: 1 p.m. – 4 p.m.

Thursday-Saturday: 6:30 p.m. (before 7:30 p.m. curtain)

In addition to the play’s public performances, Theatre B opened the play for a private audience of Sanford staff and also performed at the annual Embrace retreat. The cast and crew say that the impact and emotional resonance of “Wit” aren’t limited to the medical community or individuals who have battled cancer.

“The play touches on something that is now a very common experience,” said Carrie. “There won’t be a single person sitting in the audience who hasn’t known someone who went through this journey.

“This is one of those plays that takes the audience on an incredible journey,” she continued. “Yes, you’re going to feel sad. But that’s not the sum of the story. The sum of this story is really a beautiful journey that teaches so much about the human condition.”