Rabbit Hole

Workhouse Theatre Co. at the Warren

Comments (0) By Ed Huyck Wednesday, Oct 12 2011

Duane Atter

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Rabbit Hole
Workhouse Theatre Co. at the Warren

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At the beginning of Rabbit Hole, two sisters, Becca and Izzy, are chatting. All the while, Becca is folding clothes, fresh from the laundry, for her child. Signs of him are all over the room, from the toys that litter the shelves to the precious drawings on the wall. A few minutes in, playwright David Lindsay-Abaire tosses in the first of many gut punches in the show. Becca isn't doing laundry for her son; she's doing it to freshen up the clothes to donate. Her son is dead. From here, we watch the play's five characters, who are lost in their own "rabbit holes," try to make sense of the senseless tragedy that haunts every moment of the story. Workhouse Theatre gives the play a focused and heartfelt reading, with the show's natural sense of claustrophobia intensified by the venue's tight confines. Along with the sisters, we also meet their mother, Nat; Becca's husband, Howie; and Jason, the teenager behind the wheel of the car that struck Danny, the four-year-old boy. It's a case of a true accident, with a perfect storm of circumstances. In the months since, the characters have tried to cope in their own ways, with a rift growing between Becca and Howie about how to move forward. The company is solid throughout, but Tamara Philbrick's turn as Becca is the highlight of the show. The character is a bundle of confusion and pain that is often barely held together, but Philbrick never lets it descend into melodrama. Becca may not always be likeable, but she is certainly real, which makes the tough material even that much more powerful. $11-$13. 4400 Osseo Rd., Minneapolis; 612.216.1583. Through October 23