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Review - Rabbit Hole at IRT

Losing a child is likely the worst experience a parent can suffer. When it happens, lives are altered immeasurably. The parents are in a home where everything reminds them of the child they buried. Their friends don't know how to react once the initial condolences have been passed along. There are awkward familial inquiries from acquaintances who aren't aware of the circumstances. How can a family move on without a member?   

 

David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole is playing now at the Indiana Repertory Theatre. Rabbit Hole explores the months following the accidental death of Danny, the four-year-old son of Becca and Howie. Eight months after Danny left them, they are still having a difficult time coming to grip with the loss of their only child. Loss of intimacy, assumed allegations of blame, short-fuse reactions to otherwise normal queries, and individual paths to recovery are but a few of the issues preventing Becca and Howie from regaining their close partnership in marriage. While Howie (Ryan Arzberger) spends his weekdays at work, Becca (Lauren Lovett) stays home and is often accompanied by her sister Izzy (Gwendolyn Whiteside) and mother (Priscilla Lindsay). Listening to her sister's accounts of nightlife, Becca recriminates Izzy's temper and choices after Izzy relates to her a bar fight from the prior evening caused by Izzy's relationship with the boyfriend of the other pugilist. Izzy seems to keep Becca involved vicariously with the real world, and Becca's mother provides a much-needed light-heartedness that Becca (and Howie) still can't laugh along with yet.

 

Howie tries to convince Becca to attend a group meeting of people who have lost family members, but he's unsuccessful. It appears that Howie is the one who is more able to get back to their old life and that Becca has a longer path to recovery. She still is searching for a reason. And, as evidenced later, Howie isn't as far along in his recovery as was initially thought. Everyone is searching for a reason. Why and how did Danny run into the street chasing their pet dog only to be hit by a car passing through their neighborhood driven by a local teenage boy (Jason, played by Drew Paramore)? Is it someone's fault because that the gate wasn't locked? Is it someone's fault that a phone call prevented the dog from being tied up? Is it someone's fault that the phone call even needed to be made? Why did they even have a dog? Why was the teenager driving through their neighborhood? Everyone tries to take on some blame for the accident, or at least tries to address potential blame.

 

IRT's emotional production, directed by IRT's playwright-in-residence James Still, has an incredibly solid foundation in Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning words, and is able to flesh out realistic and honest performances from the entire cast. The audience sees into Danny's bedroom, the living room, and kitchen of Becca and Howie's recovering home. Gwendolyn Whiteside and Priscilla Lindsay give energetic and funny performances as Becca's sister and mother, respectively. Ryan Arzberger and Lauren Lovett are perfect as Howie and Becca, portraying them as a couple who are but an arm-length apart yet can't seem to close that distance while separately grieving for Danny. Drew Paramore is a sympathetic Jason, the high school boy who accidentally hit Danny with his car. We can feel Jason's guilt at being an unwilling participant in this tragic scene, and can feel for him when he tries to request a visit to the home of Becca and Howie. He's a regular kid who writes sci-fi stories, has just attended his prom, will be attending college in the fall, and who has something he feels he needs to tell Danny's parents.

 

This is the final weekend for Indiana Repertory Theatre's Rabbit Hole. For more information on times and tickets, visit the IRT website.