Best Play

Margaret Edson's play about an English poetry professor dying of ovarian cancer was a hard sell; the words "poetry," "professor," "dying," and "cancer" weighed rather heavily on the palate. Even Wit's Pulitzer Prize win prior to the Unicorn engagement didn't work in its favor -- that particular honor has been a dubious one for some time. But everything about the play worked: the minimalist set, the well-rounded performances, the sympathetic direction. People were emotional wrecks by its conclusion.