Rabbit Hole at Asheville Community Theatre
Bruce Steele: Asheville Community Theatre has been making some brave choices this season, and they're paying off well. The latest is Rabbit Hole, a subdued yet challenging drama that never panders to its audience. What did you think?
Edwin Arnaudin: Well, John Cameron Mitchell’s powerful film adaptation of David Lindsay-Abaire’s play nearly unseated The Social Network as my favorite movie of 2010. I had yet to see the stage version until this local production, and while I prefer the film for its use of multiple locations, expansions (scripted by Lindsay-Abaire) of several events merely spoken of in the original iteration, and other advantages the medium provides, the play still packs quite the emotional wallop.
Bruce: Indeed it does, and it does so without a drop of melodrama. This may be the most naturalistic drama I’ve seen at ACT and one of the most impressive in that category among any of the local theater companies. I know I’ve seen actor Robert Walker in other productions, for example, but for the duration of Rabbit Hole, the cast of five I was watching onstage were fully the characters they portrayed. I was especially impressed with the depiction of the family dynamics, in both the writing and the staging by director Stephanie Hickling Beckman.
Edwin: I’ll add the interior of the home where married couple Becca (Courtney DeGennaro Robinson) and Howie (Walker) reside to the “most impressive” list’s scenic design category. Jill Summers’ work is right up there with her stunning Avenue Q backdrop and, in keeping with the realism of the material’s drama, feels wholly approachable and inviting.
Bruce: It's both hyper realistic, giving the impression of a lived-in upscale suburban home, and a bit surreal, with floating windows and the dream-like upstairs bedroom where Becca and Howie's four-year-old son Danny lived until a terrible accident that happened some time before the play begins. The set makes the characters feel at home as they sort through their grief over Danny’s death, but it remains sparse enough to keep the focus on the performances. At what performances they are.
Edwin: Indeed. A friend recently recounted a production of this play marred by a surplus of shouting. The marital tension with which Becca and Howie contend post-tragedy certainly lends itself to extreme raised voices, especially as her immature sister Izzy (Joann Johnson) shares some awkward news and their helicopter mother Nat (CJ Breland) pushes Becca's buttons, both of which reverberate in the marriage. But Beckman wisely keeps the volume fairly low, and the acting and clarity of the script are all the better for this decision.
Bruce: The actors are all so fine, I want to highlight each of them: Robinson for her blithe, ever-baking surface of normality covering a palpable volcano of pain, Walker for his blend of amiability and barely repressed anger, Johnson for her perfect channeling of a self-absorbed young woman with sparks of wisdom, and Breland for her instantly recognizable Mom-ness, both sorrowful and frustrated. The fifth character is played by Jon Morrison, and I don’t want to spoil his role except to say it’s a hard one to pull off with sympathy, and Morrison does it with disarming innocence. For each and every one, I have to credit Beckman, because it takes a strong director to shape so many complicated performances into a cohesive whole.
Edwin: Their chemistry is likewise extraordinary. Becca is the only character who forms meaningful bonds with each character, and Robinson powerfully conveys the emotional nuances of each dynamic, but there are plenty of other standout permutations. What are your favorites?
The cast of Rabbit Hole, from left, CJ Breland, Joann Johnson, Jon Morrison, Robert Walker, and Courtney DeGennaro Robinson.
Bruce: I really liked and bought into the sibling support and sniping between Robinson’s Becca and Johnson's Izzy, and Breland's Nat connected with each daughter in an easy, slightly different way. And I think one of the reasons the character connections seem so strong is because Lindsay-Abaire's script so beautifully weaves in the pastimes of everyday life — laundry, grocery shopping, watching TV — and illustrates the new weights they take on after a child's death. Rabbit Hole is heartbreaking not because of its emotional outbursts, which are few and measured, but because of way it changes how we see the ordinary.
Edwin: The playwright’s observations of altered mundane tasks are definitely astute and the common bonds are key to helping draw in theatergoers. Similar to Lulu Wang’s The Farewell, currently playing at the Fine Arts Theatre, the material is hyper-specific to these characters, yet surprisingly relatable for those of us who haven’t experienced these particular hardships. It’s also layered with unexpected blasts of humor that, consistent with everything else about this production, feel wholly natural.
Bruce: Good point. Let’s not leave people the impression it’s all somber. It’s a well-modulated evening. We could go on, but the bottom line is that people should just go and see this play. Before I shut up, though, I wanted to give special mention to Ezra Campbell, who handled a great diversity of well-chosen props, and Dave Bortle, whose careful lighting showcases Summers’ fine set as well as the mood of the moment. The costumes by Ida are perfectly ordinary — I mean that as a complement — and Adam Cohen’s sound work is equally fine. Stage manager Kate Sullivan pulls it all together backstage. Anyone else you’d like to highlight?
Edwin: "Just" more kudos to the cast, who at our performance weathered an accidental squealing hearing-aid solo throughout the first act without a hint of being fazed. (The issue was thankfully resolved during intermission.) Their concerted efforts — as well as those of the behind-the-scenes folks you rightly championed — under Beckman’s superb direction have me confident we’ll be seeing additional dramatic works of this caliber at ACT in the near future.
Rabbit Hole runs through Aug. 25 at Asheville Community Theatre. For details and tickets, visit ashevilletheatre.org.
(Photos by Myriah Wood of MCW Photography, courtesy of Asheville Community Theatre)
The impressive Rabbit Hole set is by Jill Summers.
