Less like "Alice in Wonderland," unless one considers a missing child, than Alice Sebold's "The Lovely Bones," playwright David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer Prize-winning play "Rabbit Hole" challenges the audience. When a family is in crisis, can it survive as a unit or will it break apart? How would you react in a similar situation?
Company of Fools will present "Rabbit Hole," directed by John Glenn, as part of its month-long Fools Exposed Program, for 10 performances at the Liberty Theatre in Hailey.
Lindsay-Abaire's plays are often dark but laced with quirky, absurd perspective. Think of "Fuddy Meers," which New Theatre Company produced several years ago. Not so this play.
Variety magazine stated that Lindsay-Abaire had crafted "a drama that's not just a departure but a revelation—an intensely emotional examination of grief, laced with wit, insightfulness, compassion and searing honesty."
The fast-paced "Rabbit Hole" involves an upscale suburban family in the process of rediscovering its identity. Grief over the freak death of their four-year-old son is pervasive in the home. The parents, played by Denise Simone (Becca) and Joel Vilinsky (Howie), are isolated from each other by a polarity in how they deal with the loss of their son. Wood River High School sophomore Jeff Maxwell plays the one outsider in the tale, the teenage driver of the car that hit the boy.
Becca's younger sister, Izzie, played by Anna Johnson, and mother (Nat), played by Broadway veteran Lynn Cohen, contribute to the play's humor and complicated but nurturing family dynamics.
"I'm able to revisit my past with this role," Johnson said, with a coy laugh. "John Glenn is my favorite all-time director, ever. He's great, and it's been wonderful to work again with Joel and the first time with Denise who actually brought me out here.
"Also, as a parent, the play is a nice reminder of what is truly important in life. We can get wrapped up in our work or making money but what it boils down to is your family. There is no connection that is stronger. It's a celebration. Thank God he wrote this. It has sunny moments but it's more naturalistic (than his past plays)."
Glenn agreed and said he was particularly attracted to the play by its writing.
"It captivated me," he said. "It's dealing with a really different subject but it does so with such humanity and such humor. It has dramatic moments but it's about people doing their best to keep living. I love its humanity. The characters make such efforts to try to be there for each other."
The family dynamics carry further out of the play.
There's synchronicity for the actors, too. Johnson went to Sarah Lawrence College with Lindsay-Abaire and his wife, who was her best friend.
"He was an amazing actor," she said, "but as a writer his dialogue flies."
Johnson appeared in his play "Fuddy Meers" in 2001, produced by New Theatre Company, and arranged for "Snow Angel" to be done by high school students. As well, Cohen, a well-known stage actress, is a friend of Lindsay-Abaire's in New York and read the role of Nat when the play was first released. Another connection: Cohen played Miranda's Russian nanny, Magda, in "Sex and the City." In 2006, Cynthia Nixon, who played Miranda in the long-running HBO show, won the Tony Award for Best Actress in "Rabbit Hole."
"It's amazing when you meet new people you've never worked with before like Lynn Cohen, who is in New York and works with people you only dream of working with," Johnson said. "Lynn is a pro in every way and she's hilarious."
Down the hole
What: Company of Fools presents "Rabbit Hole"
When: Tuesday, Feb. 19 at 7 p.m., "Pay What You Feel Preview."
Feb. 20, 23 and Feb. 28, 29 at 7 p.m. Educator Nights. March 1, 5, 7, 8, at 7 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 24, at 2 p.m.
Where: The Liberty Theatre, Hailey.
Tickets: $25 adults, $18 seniors, $15 for students (18 and under). 578-9122, companyoffools.org.
Tony award-winning Lynn Cohen and Denise Simone star in David Lindsay-Abaire?s ?Rabbit Hole.?
Photo by Kirsten Shultz
