Going down the Rabbit Hole well worth the trip

The title suggests that hiding from reality is one way to cope in the face of tragedy. And one of the greatest tragedies that can strike parents is the death of a child.

Too often, mainly because a couple attempt to assuage their grief in different ways, the terrible loss tears them apart. They do not have the inner resources to give or seek comfort from each other and often lose their marriage as well as their child. This is the premise behind David Lindsay-Abaire’s Rabbit Hole, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 2007.

The drama opens eight months after Becca and Howie Corbett’s four-year-old son was killed in a car crash outside their home. He ran across the street after Howie’s dog just as a car, driven by a teenager, came round the corner. Becca had just run inside to answer a phone call from her sister, Izzy. Everyone involved feels a degree of guilt for the fatal accident.

Becca copes by withdrawing and attempting to clear the house of constant reminders of her son. Howie wallows in his grief by replaying videos of the boy at play. Izzy, the sisters’ mother, Nat, and the teenage driver, Jason, all try to deal with their own demons alongside Becca and Howie.

A disturbing drama, Rabbit Hole is given a strong production by Kanata Theatre. Director Brooke Keneford focuses on simplicity and emotional restraint, particularly in making the ending quietly explosive through a slight gesture from Becca. (Way more powerful than any more explicit emotional and physical interaction.)

The KISS approach is made even more effective because the memory of the child’s death is always front and centre through the script.

Each member of the cast, particularly Tim Mabey as the grieving father, is convincing. Mabey appears to have internalized his understanding of the pain of loss, while Chrissy Hollands as Becca, who delivers a creditable and carefully considered performance, holds to the intellectual level. (I recognize that this is, in part, because of the division in approach created by the script.)

As Nat, Rosemary Keneford is appropriately garrulous and motherly. Jordan Campbell is suitably awkward as Jason and Susan Nugent provides the necessary contrast to Becca’s apparently controlled style.

Apart from the occasional hesitations over lines on opening night, the only jarring note of the production is the heaviness of Susan V. Phillips’ two-storey set. The play does call for an upper level or alternate playing space for one scene, but this is one place where a little less reality could have worked better. By contrast, because of the numerous references in the script to the upper crust nature of the Corbett home, the set would have benefited from a generally more luxurious look.

In general, however, the Kanata Theatre production is well worth a trip down the Rabbit Hole.

Rabbit Hole continues at the Ron Maslin Playhous, Kanata, to February 16.

Rabbit Hole

By David Lindsay-Abaire

Director: Brooke Keneford

Set: Susan V. Phillips

Sound: Gerry Thompson

Lighting: Zach Andruchow

Costumes: Kathryn Clarke and Marilyn Valliquette

Cast:

Becca……………………………….Chrissy Hollands

Izzy…………………………………Susan Nugent

Howie……………………………….Tim Mabey

Nat…………………………………..Rosemary Keneford

Jason…………………………………Jordan Campbell

Voice of Danny……………………..Anne Flockton

Voice of Taz…………………………Alfie