"Hole" Truth Presented in Ross

Every family needs an Izzy, a warm-hearted nut case in flashy pants who is not above a fist fight and is “just so Jerry Springer.” Izzy can chatter on and on as her sister Becca takes laundry out of the basket, meticulously folding and stacking. We are getting some good laughs out of Izzy until we realize that these are all little clothes, a child’s clothes. They belonged to Becca’s little boy Danny, killed in an accident eight months before. And part of Izzy’s chatter is the news that she’s pregnant. “Pretend to be happy,” she says. Becca pretends, then worries immediately about what kind of mother wacky Izzy will be. (And why, in all this time, hasn’t her best friend Debbie called?)

This is the landscape of “Rabbit Hole,” David Lindsay-Abaire’s 2006 emotionally-charged play about six characters devastated by the loss of a child. It was generated by a teacher’s challenge when the playwright was a student at Julliard: write about the thing you fear most. Later, after Lindsay-Abaire married and had a son, he “understood fear in a profound way.”
And so Becca folds her son’s clothes away, gives his dog to her mother and takes his art work off the refrigerator door. But Howie, Danny’s father, watches an old tape of his child, worries about the dog gaining weight, wants to maintain Danny’s bedroom and toys just as they were. It’s been eight months since their world was knocked off its foundation. Now Howie wants to get their love life going again, but Becca can’t relax, even with a neck rub. What should they do? Go on a cruise? Sell the house? Have another child?

“Rabbit Hole”s director, Mary Ann Rodgers, says in her program notes, Howie and Becca’s ability to survive “physically, emotionally and spiritually . . . is very much up in the air.” Family members can only offer awkward affection.

Becca’s mother Nat shows up for Izzy’s birthday party, wanting to discuss “the Kennedy curse”and how she mainly feels sorry for Rose Kennedy, who lived to 104 and saw it all. Family curses interest Nat, and maternal loss is something she knows about. Nat also lost a son, Becca and Izzy’s brother, who died of a heroin overdose when he was thirty. Becca resents any comparisons between her self-destructive brother and her innocent little boy.

Empathy is everywhere, but comfort is elusive. Support groups haven’t helped, and old friends like Debbie seem to have disappeared. Yes, maybe it’s time to sell the house and move. But while the house is open to shoppers, Jason shows up. Jason is the teenager whose car hit Danny. It’s Jason who gives the play its name and its ultimate sense of hope.

Liam Hughes portrays the conscience-stricken Jason, Gregg LeBlanc plays Howie, whose steps for survival find the way out in “Rabbit Hole.” And the three women – Beth Kellerman, Floriana Alessandria and Maureen O’Donoghue deliver an honest, tough-loving ensemble as Becca, Izzy and Nat.

In 2010, the play was made into a short-lived film. Here’s a comment that was overheard at intermission last Friday: “This is like a breath of fresh air after the movie!” Director Mary Ann Rodgers, who clearly loves the play, has created an artistic best for The Ross Valley Players and The Barn.

“Rabbit Hole” will be at The Barn Theater in the Marin Art & Garden Center through June 12. Shows are Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. Ticket prices range from $15 to $25. An audience “talk back” with Ms. Rodgers and some of the performers will be offered May 29.

For tickets, call 456-9555 or see www.rossvalleyplayers.com.