Local troupe Old Mill Theatre present Rabbit Hole, bringing a blush of Broadway to FRINGE WORLD 2023. Winning both a Tony and a Pulitzer on its 2006 debut in New York, the production is given a twist for its Perth adaptation, with the straight couple, at the core originally, now same sex.
Rabbit Hole is, at its heart, a powerful exploration of grief. Tragedy happens to Ben and Howie, echoing through to Ben’s sister Izzy and mother Nat, and the ways they each mourn viscerally intense, yet completely different, all equally valid. The characters may as well be light years apart when relating back to one another.
Almost from the beginning of the piece to the very end, a deep ache of loss, of emptiness. Music selections used sparingly, but to great effect. Friends of the characters losing touch, unsure of what to say, then it’s just been far too long, and almost too weird to reconnect.
Complicated in the family dynamic by Nat continually referring to a previous disaster, a decade earlier, while Izzy receives good news in the here and now. Ben snaps at his mother, when she compares the two horrible occurrences as if a competition.
An in-story work of fiction where the tragedy never happens, with a better explanation of the multiverse than Marvel has yet deigned to give, and perhaps the best one-line summation for Orpheus and Eurydice – “it didn’t end so well’.
All actors give extremely strong performances, with an at times emotionally fraught script. There is plenty of heightened anger, devastating grief, and ice cold yet furious silence. The characters may be lost, but the actors are not. These are weighty topics, given their due with powerful writing. No wonder it won a Pulitzer.
Towards the end, a muted acceptance. The pain will never go away, but it will lessen, it will become bearable, it will even be forgotten from time to time. And then remembered all in a rush.
“Oh yeah. That.”
Rabbit Hole is a deeply moving piece of theatre, absolutely worth any audience’s dedication, time, and attention. Strongly acted, wonderfully staged, and sure to stick in the mind.