By Connie Smart
The fine line between life and art is providing a Centretown theatre and two local organizations with the opportunity to help Ottawa women battling a deadly disease.
Using its latest play as a premise, the Great Canadian Theatre Company is joining forces with the Johanne Lepine Foundation and the Ottawa Women’s Educational Business Breakfast (WEBB) to hold a fundraiser for women with ovarian cancer, a disease that kills approximately 1,400 Canadian women each year.
“We really want to be able to connect the theatre with the community,” says GCTC communications director Sean Fitzpatrick. “So we said [to the Johanne Lepine Foundation], ‘Hey, we’re doing a play about this and this is exactly what you do, so why not work together?’”
The fundraiser is scheduled to take place at the theatre on Jan. 26, in honour of the play Wit. The Pulitzer Prize-winning piece by Margaret Edson is at the GCTC playing until early February.
It tells the story of Vivian, a woman who is diagnosed with terminal ovarian cancer but comes to find peace during the course of her illness.
Fifty per cent of the proceeds from the fundraiser will go to the Johanne Lepine Foundation, a non-charitable organization offering assistance to Ottawa women battling the disease. The other half will go to the GCTC.
“Our goal is to raise money and awareness to help even more people than we currently can,” says foundation chair Colin Wright. “We have about $55,000 in our fund right now, but we’d obviously like to increase that. It’s through events like this, and a play like this, that we are able to do that.”
Wright started the foundation in 1999, a week after his wife, Johanne Lepine, passed away from the disease. The foundation works through the nursing co-ordinator team at the Ottawa Hospital’s gynecology-oncology department to provide support for women fighting ovarian and other gynecological cancers.
Funds raised from the play will go towards financial support, transportation to and from cancer treatments, wigs and head coverings and a means for final family visits for the terminally ill.
The foundation’s goal of improving quality of life is what got WEBB interested in advertising for the fundraiser, says Carol Carty, a founding member of the organization.
“The money goes towards helping local patients and easing their pain, which is an important part of the equation,” she says.
WEBB is a local group of about 150 women who meet each month to network support for community initiatives.
Carty says WEBB began promoting ovarian cancer awareness three years ago when members realized just how little attention the disease receives, despite its low survival rate.
She adds the group is now involved with the National Ovarian Cancer Society and holds fundraisers like the Planting a Seed of Hope fashion show, which she says has raised about $35,000 over the past three years.
Ovarian cancer is the fifth ranking cause of cancer deaths in Canada, with 2,500 new cases detected each year. Known as the silent killer, its symptoms are not normally noticed until the cancer has spread and has become much harder to treat. Sixty per cent of ovarian cancer cases are fatal, with women dying within five years.
Using theatre to raise awareness and funds is a unique and rewarding experience, says Sherry Smith, who plays Susie Monohan, Vivian’s primary nurse in Wit.
“This play is about as close to reality as you can get,” she says, explaining that to prepare for their roles, she and other cast members visited the general campus of the Ottawa Hospital’s oncology unit to learn procedures like pelvic examinations, that are associated with treatment for the disease.
Smith adds this is a cause that is especially important to her because it really hits home.
“Having lost a brother to cancer at 29, this is something that’s very close to my heart,” she says.
“This play leaves you with a sense of cleansing and hope. Whatever we can contribute towards the fight against this disease, through theatre or otherwise, is valuable.”