2 February 2010

Premiere: Rabbit Hole

Polish Star Director Performs Mourning Work

Amberg – Successful German premiere: the polish star director, Krzysztof Zanussi (known for the movie "Bilans Kwartalny"), staged the two-act play "Rabbit Hole" at the Amberger Stadttheater. In 2007, American author David Lindsay Abaire was awarded with a Pulitzer Prize for this play.
Becca's and Howie's situation is as simple as it is fatal: the only son, Danny, has died eight months ago after being hit by a car while chasing the family dog. Since then, mourning has paralysed their (sex) lives. Each of them explores very different strategies in dealing with their loss.
She is unable to deal with the omnipresent memories which are manifest in toys, pictures, and clothes – the only wish being to rid herself of everything that has to do with her son. All she actually wants is to leave the homely "Rabbit Hole" (the original title of the play).

He seeks help in a circle of affected people

He – on the other hand – needs the steady presence of objects. He watches home-videos every evening and seeks comfort in a circle of affected people. He longs to talk about his fear of loss. Something he is not able to do with his wife.
By only letting Becca's and Howie's painstakingly constructed upper-middleclass world collapse like a house of cards the play would end in a drama of self-destruction. However, the Feydeau-devotee, David Linsy-Abaire (40), is a far too clever observer of people as not to examine the – willingly or unwillingly – funny sides of this mourning work. He chooses the simple language of the tabloids without loosing any depth: this is a skill.
Hence, he shows us how Becca's light-footed pregnant sister Izzy (a pacy performance by Kristine Walther) becomes the source of energy for the desperate couple. He also shows how the contained presence of Becca's mother (Sabine Selle) who buried her own son presents to be a major support. Then there is the crash driver, the naive high-school graduate Jason (Tobias M. Walter), who tries to deal with his feelings of guilt.
Susanne Uhlen and Carsten Klemm impress with their concentration of measures. Their characters strive for a mutual sensibility and still drift apart. Their incapability of channelling their pain rarely results in eruptions. However, a high urgency is exposed during these moments. It is exactly this urgency sought by the director, Zanussi.

Nicole Kidman as Becca

He attaches great importance to small but explicit gestures – emphasizing that there is only one way out of desperation: together. If one really wants to reproach the solid and artfully composed conversation piece, insightfully translated by Dagmar Windisch, then maybe it is with the predictability of the sequence of scenes, which result in a reconciliatory open-end.
Nevertheless, this piece will make its way in Germany. Currently, a film adaptation with Nicole Kidman as Becca due this spring is being prepared in the USA.
Jens Voskamp