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WITH: Cynthia Nixon (Becca), Mary Catherine Garrison (Izzy), John Slattery (Howie), Tyne Daly (Nat) and John Gallagher Jr. (Jason).
Sets by John Lee Beatty (Doubt, The Color Purple, Defiance); Costumes by Jennifer von Mayrhauser; Lighting by Christopher Akerland (Light in The
Piazza);
Presented by Manhattan Theater Club At the Biltmore Theater, 261 West 47th Street; (212) 239-6200.
So here’s the thing. Number 1: I’m not into the death thing as a theme. Never saw “Bambi” and only went to “Terms of Endearment” because I thought it was a
comedy. Number 2: I’m one of the twelve people in the world who thought I thought that “Sex and the City” was, b-o-r-i-n-g and Cynthia Nixon annoying. Her
character, her voice, her hair – everything. And Number 3: Putting a dog in a play is stupid, but reducing it to a recorded bark offstage is humiliating
Rabbit Hole has all three so there was no reason for me to like it. Except I did. I liked it a lot. And, of course, it all starts with the writing. Lindsay-Abaire takes
us to a plateau of grief where a small family is marooned. A small boy chases his dog into the street and is hit by a car. Not a headline, exactly. And we don’t
see this moment. What we see is eight months later, when enough time has passed that the mother (Nixon) finds herself able to finally compose a thought, and it
is “Why can’t I move on?” Her husband, mother and sister wonder this as well in varying degrees of frustration, inept conversation, and even humor. Yes there
is plenty of humor in this play because humor is the honor guard for grief.
I am told that my grandfather used to say that “life is so daily,” meaning that it wasn’t about the grand gestures or achievements, but about the details. That is
what we are given here, the details. And that is what makes this story bearable. One detail of these characters lives leads into another until you find yourself
moving with them from one sticking place to another until the play’s conclusion.
With Nixon as the planet around which these actors orbit, everyone walks a tightrope in this production, and each succeeds beautifully. They stand in the middle
of their characters with grace and simplicity and manage to nearly disappear in deference to the story. As its director, Daniel Sullivan has shaped this production
uinto a virtual ballet of a five wounded people all treading water in a sea whose dangers terrify us all. Framed by John Lee Beatty’s sweeping set and Christopher
Akerland’s lighting, these actors create a world inside a house that makes the street outside closer than we would like.
This is why I love the theatre. Take all the wrong elements. Mix them together with an excellent script and fine fine direction and production elements. Bake for
two hours in front of an audience. You got yourself food for the body and soul.
© 2006 by Tulis McCall