Seldom do plays set at a particular location appeal to the audience from a different one. Breaking this stereotype, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Rabbit Hole written by David Lindsay-Abaire and adapted by Vandana Prabhu, is one of a kind. It promises to appeal to every kind of audience, with it’s meticulously mapped empathy.
The play revolves around a happily married couple, Becca and Howie, whose lives turn upside down after a tragic accident. “The play was chosen mainly because of its immaculate script which didn’t need any changes. Becca and Howie were high school sweethearts – he ending up being a Wall Street guy, she being a full-time mother. It all seems perfect until something goes drastically wrong and impacts them in such a terrible way — instances everybody has been through at some time,” says Vandana, about why she picked the play.
“Despite the play revolving around grief and loss, the best part about it is that you never feel like you are being mauled by melodrama. It’s not a sentimental piece of mush because the other characters — Becca’s family create a balance with their comic relief. It’s not a sentimental piece of mush,” says the director, clearing the air. Probing deeper, we find out the most challenging part of the entire process.
“I think finding a well matched cast was quite a task as the dialogues are very nuanced and the actors needed to look their parts – their background and language abilities needed to match. The entire process took around two months,” reveals the director, sighing contently.
One of the prominent cast members, Arundhati Raja who plays the role of Becca’s mother, says, “I share a complicated relationship with all of my daughters in the play, which I think is equally challenging for all the actors because of the tightly written dialogues that are graced with wit.” Does she share any similarities with the character she plays, we ask. “Well, I’m a mother in real life too and there are certain instances that remind me of how I dealt with certain situations,” says the co-founder of Jagriti.
“The best part about Rabbit Hole, is that while watching it, every person can draw parallels from their own families. Everybody treads on the territory of the issues brought up in the play. And hopefully, the audience will laugh, cry and go through all of the emotions with us and relate to us as a family, rather than different entities,” adds the actor.
— The play Rabbit Hole will take place at the Jagriti Theatre from November 4 to 13 at 8, 3 pm and 6.30 pm, respectively.
