Langham Court Theatre is taking a look at the way people grieve the loss of a loved one in their production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama Rabbit Hole.
Directed by Langham veteran (and recent M Award nominee) Syliva Rhodes, with set design by Toshik Bukowiecki and lighting design by Carol-Anne Moore, Rabbit Hole is clearly a shift from Langham’s last offering, a fabulous, sold-out run of Canadian musical comedy The Drowsy Chaperone.
Rabbit Hole will be a much more meaty offering.
“If I can leave the theatre laughing, crying or thinking and having something to chew on, I think that’s great theatre. It gives us something to think about and throws a light on our lives, and this is one of those,” says Rhodes.
Rabbit Hole tells the story of Becca and Howie, a married couple whose four-year-old son, Danny, was killed in a car accident. Their relationship begins to unravel as they endeavour to cope and are unable to resolve their different ways of grieving. Hope is reignited when Jason, the teenage boy driving the car that killed Danny, comes into their lives.
“This is a situation that all parents dread,” says Rhodes.
But it’s not all doom and gloom, Rhodes assures. “I’ve tried to bring a lot of humour into it,” she says.
Rhodes saw a performance of the play in Ashland, Oregon. Impressed by what she saw, she bought a script and presented it to the selection committee at Langham Court. Three years later they found a spot in the season for this drama.
Starring Lorene Cammiade as Becca; Kate Harter as Izzy; Eric Holmgren as Howie; Gloria Snider as Nat and Malcolm McLaren as Jason, Rabbit Hole could be another ground-breaking play for this community theatre. Guaranteed it will at least push some boundaries. M