Entering the ‘Rabbit Hole’

As two 30-year-old sisters banter back and forth about bar fights and babies, spontaneous laughter paints the image of a comical, dysfunctional family.

The audience soon discovers how the accidental death of Danny, a 4-year-old boy represented as buried beneath stacks of brightly colored toddlers’ clothing, has left the family struggling to grasp the reason for his loss.

The pain and uniqueness of human suffering are two hardships examined in the Department of Theatre and Drama’s production of “Rabbit Hole,” David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play.

In her sixth year as a professor of acting and directing in the Department of Theatre and Drama, Fontaine Syer, the director of “Rabbit Hole,” said the play’s mix of comedy and tragedy provides a great image of man’s attempts to cope with loss.

“So here’s this terrible accident,” Syer said. “Everyone would like to be able to point at someone and say, ‘You fucked up.’”

While Danny’s death seems a particularly cruel fate, Syer mentioned that tragic accidents happen every day and that grieving death is a universal experience.

“Tragedy happens a lot in our world,” Syer said. “What happens with this family is that they all love each other unreservedly, and the play is about how much we can hurt the people we love, even when we try to help them.”

Throughout the play, each character grieves Danny’s loss with his or her own coping methods, ranging from a subconscious erasing of memories to support groups to writing.

“Everyone in the family is at a different point in the process of grieving for this child,” Syer said. “Everyone wants to pull them to the place where they are, but it’s about understanding the larger incomprehensibility of life.”

Freshman Kate Olsson, who acted in her high school’s production of “Rabbit Hole,” said the play’s use of comedy amidst tragedy is an effective way of relating the issue to a wide variety of people.

“Comedy is realistic,” Olsson said. “People still make jokes about the past. It’s a way of coping and projecting.”

Bloomington residents and close friends Sheri Benham and Kaye Hill were two audience members who attended Saturday’s performance.

During intermission, they remarked about the accurate representation of the comical and imperfect grieving process of a middle-America family.

“It’s like you’re eavesdropping on something, something that’s so painful,” Benham said.

Years ago, Hill’s sister lost her son and faced similar hardships.

“People would cross the street to avoid her,” Hill said. “Because it was painful, people didn’t want to talk about him, but she did.”

With seven performances this week, Syer said she wants the show to reach as many people as possible.

“Students might say, ‘I don’t want to go see a play about a dead child,’” Syer said. “But it’s so human and so rich. You’ve got to get in the building and see it.”

RABBIT HOLE
WHEN 7 p.m. Oct. 26 through Oct. 30, 2 p.m. Oct. 30
WHERE Wells-Metz Theater
MORE INFO Student tickets are $15, and regular admission is $22