Penobscot Theatre Company Presents WIT, Beginning 3/13

Tickets are now on sale for Margaret Edson's WIT, starring New York actress, Sarah Dacey-Charles. Penobscot Theatre's production of this drama will take place in the historic Bangor Opera House from March 13 - March 31st.

WIT "centers on a brilliant and exacting poetry professor named Vivian Bearing, who is undergoing experimental treatment for cancer." A scholar who devoted her life to academia, she must now face the irony and injustice of becoming the subject of research, herself. Dacey-Charles, whose credits include Les Miserables on Broadway, makes her Penobscot Theatre debut.

WIT was the first play written by Margaret Edson, inspired by her experience working in a hospital oncology unit. Artistic Director, Bari Newport says of her decision to produce this play in her opening season, "The Bangor community's unique confluence of science and academia led me to wonder what the theatre could do to facilitate a conversation between the two. WIT does so naturally and in the most beautiful and elegant manner. It is a tale filled with generous profundity and humor, with an ending that will stay in your mind, forever."
WIT won the 1999 Pulitzer for Drama and was nominated for a Tony for "Best Revival" when Sex in the City's Cynthia Nixon starred in it on Broadway last season.
In addition to Dacey-Charles, WIT also stars Zachary A. Robbins, Amelia Forman-Stiles, Bernard Hope, Alison Cox, Emma Howard, Abby Kimball and Nathan Roach.
Los Angeles based director, Kappy Kilburn who directed INK for Penobscot Theatre last season, returns to direct WIT. The design team around this production includes set design by Dan Bilodeau (INK, On Golden Pond), lighting design by Shannon Zura (scenic design: Annie), sound design by Brian Merckx (Becky's New Car), property design by Meredith Perry (The Sugar Bean Sisters, Annie, Becky's New Car, Always Patsy Cline) and costume design by Kevin Jacob Koski.

Major production support for WIT is provided by the Maine Arts Commission and made possible in part through the generous sponsorship of Groth & Associates, Health Search New England and EMHS. Additional project funding awarded by the City of Bangor's Commission for Cultural Development. Ongoing hospitality and media sponsors are The Charles Inn, Bangor Daily News, The Maine Edge, Canyon Networks, Blueberry Broadcasting, ZONE Radio and WLBZ Channel 2.

Additionally Penobscot Theatre Company will host a series of events surrounding the production of WIT:

StorySlam on the theme "Stories of Survival", Saturday, March 16th at 7PM
Offered in partnership with Bangor Area Story Slam, audience members are invited to tell their own stories of survival. All stories must be true and must have happened to you, the storyteller. Those with stories put their names in a hat during the night of the event, and ten per evening are chosen at random. Each may tell a five-minute story that adheres to the theme (but keep in mind, varied interpretations on the theme are accepted and expected). This event is free, but requires reservation (call 207-942-3333). For more details visit: www.bangorstoryslam.org

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