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Danger, danger -- this play could be a depressing mess if done poorly.It wouldn't surprise me to see this become a movie in the next few years. Gentlemen, be prepared for a few lessons.I have not seen a production of this play, but I imagine that care must be taken by those involved not to allow any of the performances to become self-indulgent. There are even notes to this effect in the forward by the author himself. This is a well-written play that tugs the heartstrings without being overly sentimental or manipulative. I'd love to see it mounted as an independent film with the original Broadway cast. There is also hope that the central couple will overcome the fallout from this tragic event to repair their own relationship and come to terms with their loss.The writing is naturalistic to the point that I heard conversations that I've had with my own wife. It is a tough subject to be sure, but the playwright adeptly mixes in just enough humor to keep it from becoming downright depressing. I chuckled as the husband dug himself a hole than struggled to get out of it to no avail.
The great thing about Rabbit Hole is that it is very contemporary and ready for the modern theatre audience. It is a play about bereavement, loss, coping, family and finally, forgiveness. If you like the dramatic and enjoy plays that move your heart and soul, then Rabbit Hole is for you. This wonderfully written play revolves around a family still coping with the death of their four-year-old son, Danny, who is killed when he accidently chases the family dog into the street.
Dealing with the most traumatic event any parent can endure--the death of a child--David Lindsay-Abaire manages to involve his audience in the grieving process and illustrate how we all grieve differently and for different lengths of time. Izzy, Becca's sister, an off-the-wall case of arrested development, has been having an affair and is now pregnant, an eventuality with which Becca must now learn to cope, especially since Izzy has used Danny's death as an excuse for her irresponsible behavior. Danny, a four-year-old chasing his dog, has been struck and killed by a car driven by a seventeen-year-old driver, and the family is trying to cope with their grief. She has internalized her feelings, refusing group therapy, any religious counseling, and especially the advice of her overbearing mother.
The audience, drawn into the events, will also react differently, respond to different characters in different ways, and imagine differently how they themselves would respond. Jason, the seventeen-year-old driver of the car, is also trying to come to grips with the events, blaming himself, reliving every moment, searching for some sort of forgiveness which he is not sure he deserves.As the characters interact, we see them as individuals, not just as participants in the terrible drama of their shattered world, but we also see that grief is not and cannot be a full-time activity. As the eight months from Danny's death until the end of the play elapse, we see changes in all the characters, but the play ends (blessedly) without pat answers. Moving, memorable, and ultimately uplifting. Each character is different, reacting differently to the Danny's death, grieving their loss differently, and learning to cope differently. Despite the subject matter, this 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning play is often extremely funny, setting up emotional contrasts between ironic humor and infinite sadness which make the loss of the child more poignant, without dissolving into bathos.
Many moments of humor make their lives more realistic and provide relief for the audience. n Mary Whipple As the play opens, Becca, the child's mother, is folding the laundry--Danny's clothes--which she has just washed in preparation for giving them away. Her husband Howie goes to work, attends group therapy, becomes friends with some of the other grieving parents, and tries to coax Becca into becoming a wife again.Among the other characters, Nat, Becca's mother, has all the pat answers, and she equates the loss of this child with her own loss of her adult son, something she insists on emphasizing to Becca.
While well written, this is a standard movie-of-the week script which belongs on the Lifetime channel.
The actual production would be a great one to see performed - definitely worth reading then watching a performance. There is turbulance with the parents and siblings and of course, ends with a bit of a surprise. The story is a very well plotted look of a family after a horrific death in the family. Starts out in the very middle of the family's struggle to get through their ordeal.
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