Hershey Area Playhouse Presents WIT 4/22-25, 4/29-5/2

Come on a journey to a fuller and more humane understanding of life as the Hershey Area Playhouse presents "Wit," Margaret Edson's Pulitzer Prize-winning play about how a woman confronts her fatal battle with ovarian cancer.

"Wit" will be presented Thursday-Sunday, April 22-25 and April 29-May 2 at the Hershey Area Playhouse on the campus of Country Meadows, 830 Cherry Drive, Hershey. Performance times are 7:30 pm Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 pm on Sundays.

Tickets for "Wit" are $17 for teens and adults and $14 for children 12 and under, and service charges apply. Tickets and more information is available at HersheyAreaPlayhouse.com.

"Wit" tells the story of Vivian, a patient in a major research hospital undergoing treatment for advanced ovarian cancer. Prior to her hospitalization, she was Professor Bearing, teacher and scholar, specializing in the Holy Sonnets of John Donne. Vivian takes the audience to various scenes in the past and present that illuminate her achievements in the world of scholarship and show what happens to her as she is treated with aggressive chemotherapy for eight months.

"‘Wit' is a significant departure for The Playhouse," said Director Skip Becker. "We have never done a play with this level of raw power and profound emotion."

The play was first produced off-Broadway in 1999 and swept nearly every drama award given for an off-Broadway play, including the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, The Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play, two Drama League awards and the Outer Critics' Circle Award for Outstanding Play. In 1999 Wit was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. "Wit" has also been produced at regional theaters nationwide.

The cast features Debbie Voight of Camp Hill in the lead role of Vivian Bearing; Michael Sevareid of Mt. Joy as Harvey Kelekian; Stosh Snyder of Harrisburg as Jason Posner; Julie Strickland of Mt. Joy as Susie Monahan; Barbara Ellis of Elizabethtown as E. M. Ashford, and Don Bowman of Lebanon as Mr. Bearing.

A reception and "talk back" will follow performances on Saturday, April 24 and May 1, giving audiences the opportunity to ask questions and hear from cancer specialists. Tickets to the "talk back" are not required, and admission to the "talk back" is free.

"Wit" is sponsored by The Doctors Kienle Center for Humanistic Medicine, Penn State Hershey College of Medicine, Humanities Department. The play continues the Hershey Area Playhouse's close relationship with the area's medical community and care providers that began with "Full Moon Over Montmarte," a January 2010 performance that focused on Alzheimer's Disease.

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