Cast deals deftly with heart-wrenching play
There's a simple objective measure of how good the Star Bar Players' production of "Rabbit Hole" is: 15 minutes after the play ended opening night, a dozen or more audience members were in the Osborne Studio Theater lobby, discussing the play with the actors and one another.
David Lindsay-Abaire's play achieves the seemingly impossible in two ways. First, it deals honestly and believably with one of the most painful of all human situations - the death of one's child. There's not a false-sounding line or an implausible reaction; no melodramatic confrontations and no bromidic resolutions.
Second, and even more unexpectedly, "Rabbit Hole" is often hilarious. Lindsay-Abaire's comic touch - seen in the Fine Arts Center's recent production of "Fuddy Meers" - is as deft as ever in this 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning play.
It's been eight months since 4-yearold Danny ran in the street and was killed by a car. His parents, Howie and Becca, have dealt with the death in different ways. Howie holds tightly to everything that reminds him of his son, while Becca is removing signs of his existence.
This isolates the couple at the time they most need each other. Adding to the rockiness is Becca's tense relationship with her mother, Nat, and her sister, Izzy. And shaking up an already unstable existence is the desire of Jason - the teenage driver of the car - to meet with Becca and Howie.
Director Susan Dawn Carson has assembled an all-star cast that brings naturalness and believability to each character. Steve Emily's performance as Howie is one of the deepest and most layered ever seen on a local stage. He's superficially ready to go on with life, but Emily quietly brings out Howie's fragility.
Jane Fromme is marvelously tense and haunted as Becca, who controls what she can, such as baked goods, to avoid confronting the grief she can't control.
Sandra Womochil Bray returns to the stage as Nat, displaying the ease and comic timing that made her an audience favorite. Amy Renee Hardwick brims with energy as Becca's fun-loving younger sister.
Last and definitely not least is Dylan McClintock, who brings a touching vulnerability and anxiety to Jason.
"Rabbit Hole" is cathartic and ultimately uplifting. There will be no resolution - Becca and Howie will never "get over" Danny's death - but we take comfort in their resilience.
details
The Star Bar Players present "Rabbit Hole"
When: 8 p.m. Fridays-Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, through May 4
Where: Osborne Studio Theater, UCCS, 3955 Cragwood Drive
Tickets: $15/$12 seniors, military and students; 573-7411 or www.starbarplayers.org
