Vivian Bearing, Ph.D., is a renowned English professor who has spent years teaching and studying the metaphysical sonnets of John Donne with an aggressively probing and intensely rational approach. When she is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer, she begins to reassess her life and work with a humor and profundity that transform both her and the audience. Wit, written by Margaret Edson, won the 1999 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

Atlantic Stage, 10177 N. Kings Highway. Thursday, 7:30 p.m. $17.50–$27.50. (877) 287-8587, atlanticstage.com