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Michael Evans named medical director at Lehigh Valley Physician Group-Hazleton

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What’s Up, NEPA?/Good Eats!

<p>DALLAS TOWNSHIP &#8212; As she drove home after a recent play rehearsal, 19-year-old Misericordia University student Olivia Katula pondered her work/life balance.</p><p>&#8220;Wow. I hope I&#8217;m not a career-aholic,&#8221; she thought, promising herself she would never be like the main character in &#8220;Wit.&#8221;</p><p>Margaret Edson&#8217;s Pulitzer Prize-winning play, which the Misericordia Players will present at 8 p.m. Oct. 27-29 in Lemmond Theater, centers on an English professor named Vivian who is dying of ovarian cancer and reflecting on a life devoted to scholarship but devoid of warm human relationships.</p><p>&#8220;The main thing that stands out is, (now that Vivian is ill) she&#8217;s craving human attention and affection,&#8221; said Adam Ercolani, 19, of Bear Creek, who portrays part of the medical team that is treating Vivian. &#8220;That&#8217;s what she constantly denied other people.&#8221;</p><p>With no living family members and no close friends, Vivian at one point has to take a cab to the hospital.</p><p>&#8220;You pity anyone going through that,&#8221; Ercolani said. &#8220;You feel complete and utter sorrow for her.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s very mentally exhausting to play her,&#8221; said Angela Berlane Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre, who has taken on the lead role.</p><p>Vivian endures much suffering during her final months and she may have taken on even more pain by agreeing to a regime of experimental drugs. Her doctor, played by David Lutchko, 18, of Scranton, told her doing so would add to the body of knowledge.</p><p>English prof Vivian is all about knowledge, though her realm up to this point has not been scientific research but the work of John Donne, who is famous for his &#8220;Death, Be Not Proud&#8221; poem and other writings about mortality.</p><p>&#8220;The whole play rests on the shoulders of Vivian,&#8221; said director Scott Colin Woolnough, adding other characters symbolize various themes in the play.</p><p>Vivian&#8217;s mentor, Dr. Ashford Ph.D., represents scholarly pursuits, the director said, and Dr. Jason Posner, a research fellow who was once enrolled in Vivian&#8217;s English class, represents emotional detachment.</p><p>Susie, a nurse who offers comfort and encouragement, represents personal connection and Dr. Kelekian, the oncologist, represents the disease that is killing Vivian. &#8220;He&#8217;s the specter of the cancer,&#8221; Woolnough said.</p><p>Perhaps Vivian the scholar has been overly strict with her students &#8212; &#8220;I wish I&#8217;d given him an &#8216;A,&#8217; she muses after Posner gives her a pelvic exam.</p><p>Similarly, some members of her medical team may be ignoring her humanity in favor of what they can learn by giving her &#8220;the full dose&#8221; of experimental drugs. But that situation won&#8217;t continue forever, and audience members can take heart. Vivian will experience some kindness and compassion before the end.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Wit-5-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Angel Berlane Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre, seated at right, plays Vivian Bearing in Misericordia University&#8217;s production of &#8216;Wit.&#8217; Members of the medical team, busily taking notes on Bearing&#8217;s condition, are from left: Adam Ercolani of Bear Creek, Cecilia Russo of Benton, Juliana Cofrancesco of Branford, Conn., and David Lutchko of Scranton. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Wit-5-1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Angel Berlane Mulcahy, of Wilkes-Barre, seated at right, plays Vivian Bearing in Misericordia University&#8217;s production of &#8216;Wit.&#8217; Members of the medical team, busily taking notes on Bearing&#8217;s condition, are from left: Adam Ercolani of Bear Creek, Cecilia Russo of Benton, Juliana Cofrancesco of Branford, Conn., and David Lutchko of Scranton. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Wit-2-1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Members of the cast and crew of the Misericordia Players are, front row: Olivia Katulka, Jeffrey Kelly, technical director; Angel Berlane Mulcahy, Cecilia Russo, Madison Mokychic, Juliana Cofrancesco. Second row: Scott Woolnough, director; David Lutchko, Adam Ercolani, Jacob Schweiger, graduate assistant and Jackie Nat, assistant to the director. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/web1_Wit-2-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Members of the cast and crew of the Misericordia Players are, front row: Olivia Katulka, Jeffrey Kelly, technical director; Angel Berlane Mulcahy, Cecilia Russo, Madison Mokychic, Juliana Cofrancesco. Second row: Scott Woolnough, director; David Lutchko, Adam Ercolani, Jacob Schweiger, graduate assistant and Jackie Nat, assistant to the director. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Misericordia Players present Pulitzer Prize-winning &#8216;Wit&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p><strong>By Mary Therese Biebel</strong></p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Misericordia Players present ‘Wit’ Oct. 27-29