Published: 10.30.2009
'Rabbit Hole' digs 'into the loss and pain'
Beowulf play is about couple whose 4-year-old son is killed
SPECIAL TO THE ARIZONA DAILY STAR
When you've hit bottom, there's only one — well, you know how the saying goes.
The characters in David Lindsay-Abaire's "Rabbit Hole," opening at Beowulf Alley Theatre Company next week, have hit bottom. The story centers on a married couple desperately trying to piece their lives back together after their 4-year-old son is killed in an auto accident.
Cast members of "The Rabbit Hole" are, from left, Martie van der Voort, Kristina Sloane, Ian Mortensen, Nell Summers and Gabe Nagy.
Cast members of "The Rabbit Hole" are, from left, Martie van der Voort, Kristina Sloane, Ian Mortensen, Nell Summers and Gabe Nagy.
"Rabbit Hole is real and truthful," said director Sara Falconer. "It would be easy to make this into a tear-jerker, but I really wanted to dig into the loss and pain."
When accidents happen, it is easy to obsess over the event itself. This play turns around the focus and cogitates the distinctly separate emotions that each member of the boy's family feels in dealing with his unexpected death.
"One of the ideas in the play is how we are all suffering in our own separate ways," said Falconer. And, she added, the audience will find much to identify with in each of the characters.
In the mother's, father's, aunt's and grandmother's complicated and abundant emotions, there are universal feelings.
"Everyone wants stability," said Falconer. "Everyone sometimes feels like the carpet is sliding out from under them and that any moment they could be pushed over and fall down."
Unsteadiness and uncertainty are feelings that are familiar to Lindsay-Abaire himself.
"David Lindsay-Abaire took a playwriting class in which one of the assignments was to write about something that terrifies the hell out of you," said Falconer. "And this was what he came up with."
"Rabbit Hole" isn't just about angst and fear: Hope is woven into the story, too.
"It doesn't have a happy ending," said Falconer. "The playwright is very specific in that he wants audiences to leave the theater hoping (the couple) will be OK and that they find a path to recovery."
If You Go
"Rabbit Hole"
• Presented by: Beowulf Alley Theatre Company.
• Playwright: David Lindsay-Abaire.
• Director: Sara Falconer
• Where: Beowulf Alley, 11 S. Sixth Ave.
• When: Preview, 7:30 p.m. next Friday; opens 7:30 p.m. Nov. 7. Regular performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 1:30 p.m. Sundays, through Nov. 22.
• Tickets: Preview, $10; regular performances, $20; $18 if purchased online at www.beowulfalley.org
• Information: 882-0555
• Cast: Nell Summers, Gabe Nagy, Martie van der Voort, Kristina Sloan, Ian Mortensen.
• Running time: 2 1/2 hours, with one intermission.
Alexa Miller is a University of Arizona student who's apprenticing at the Star. Contact her at 573-4128 or at starapprentice@azstarnet.com
