Rabbit Hole (Artists Repertory theatre)

[February 20th, 2008]

Everybody loves a good tragedy. There’s something perversely comforting about watching someone else endure problems larger than your own. It’s why we make high-school freshmen read Romeo and Juliet: You think your love life is tough? Check these kids out. There, don’t you feel better?

But if it’s a Hallmark special you’re after, Rabbit Hole, the first serious drama by comedian David Lindsay-Abaire, may not fit the bill. We join Becca (Susannah Mars) and Howie (forcefully portrayed by Duffy Epstein), a middle-aged suburbanite couple, eight months after the death of their 4-year-old son Danny, who ran out in the street after his dog and was mowed down by a teenage driver. Becca is a wreck, and the well-intentioned efforts of her mother (Vana O’Brien) and lowlife sister (Adrienne Flagg) aren’t helping.

Like the rest of Lindsay-Abaire’s work, Rabbit Hole takes place in an unjust universe. His refusal to assign blame for or give meaning to Danny’s death is hard on the audience—where’s the gratification in random tragedy?—but makes for an artistic achievement more satisfying than any morality play. It’s a beautiful, deeply affecting and very funny work, and director Allen Nause has done it justice in a fine production that falls just short of greatness.

The imperfections are small ones: Jeff Seats’ naturalist, IKEA-modern set is lovely but, for a home inhabited for four years by a rambunctious little boy, it’s remarkably smudge-free. It’s disconcerting. Rody Ortega’s sound design is up to his usual high standard, but could have benefited from a more subtle touch. Plaintive solo piano in some of the quieter scenes veers dangerously close to the melodramatic for a quotidian drama.

On the acting side, Susannah Mars, best known for her musical-theater roles, still seems a little larger than life, while Adrienne Flagg is perhaps too restrained as Izzy, the freewheeling bad-girl sister. It’s a great character, and she could have more fun onstage without risking turning the show into a farce.

But these are minor quibbles. Artists Rep has bucked the persistent mediocrity that has plagued the company this season with a very fine take on an excellent play. Don’t miss this one.