Cast and production information.
Heartbreaking and
Heartwarming
Winner of The Pulitzer Prize
Rabbit Hole
Comes to TheaterWorks in Hartford
TheaterWorks, downtown Hartford’s
home for contemporary plays, presents David
Lindsay-Abaire’s touching family
drama Rabbit Hole. This Pulitzer Prize-winning
story of loss and hope has had audiences
laughing through their tears since its
Tony-nominated debut on Broadway. The production,
directed by TheaterWorks’ Associate
Artistic Director Rob Ruggiero, runs June
6 through July 20, 2008 at the
company’s intimate venue located
at 233 Pearl Street. Rabbit Hole is sponsored
by The Hartford.
In the play,
Becca and Howard Corbett have everything
they could want in life
until fate shatters their idyllic home
and leaves the couple drifting apart. Rabbit
Hole is a heartfelt, rich and funny journey
through grief that reminds us of the human
spirit’s ability to heal and get
back to the business of living. Variety called the play “a revelation…laced
with wit…compassion and searing honesty.” Rabbit
Hole is produced in partnership with Pittsburgh
Public Theater.
The TheaterWorks
/ Pittsburgh Public production of Rabbit
Hole opened recently in the Steel
City to rave reviews. The Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review called Ruggiero’s production, “realistic
without being tragic, sentimental or weepy,
and it’s often surprisingly funny.” The
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette states, “emotions
surge out of sight. Lindsay-Abaire unpeels
emotional layers, twisting and turning
through the rabbit hole of grief. And the
characters emerge, different for the journey…It’s
a play of small moments truthfully played,
which suggests careful work by director
Rob Ruggiero.”
Playwright
David Lindsay-Abaire was awarded the
2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Rabbit
Hole, which premiered on Broadway at Manhattan
Theatre Club’s Biltmore Theater.
The play also received five Tony Award
nominations including Best Play, a Dramatists
Guild Hull-Warriner Award nomination, and
the Spirit of America Award from the Barbara
Barondess MacLean Foundation. His other
plays include Fuddy Meers, Kimberly
Akimbo,
Wonder of the World and A
Devil Inside,
among others. He is currently writing the
book and lyrics for the Broadway-bound
musical Shrek with composer Jeanine Tesori.
In addition to his work in theater, David
wrote the screenplay for the upcoming Newline
feature Inkheart, and is currently at work
on screen adaptations of his plays Rabbit
Hole for 20th Century Fox, starring Nicole
Kidman, and Kimberly Akimbo for Dreamworks
and Killer Films.
Erika Rolfsrud returns to TheaterWorks after appearing
in The Dazzle in 2003.
The actor, who will be playing the role
of Becca Corbett, has appeared recently
on Broadway in Lincoln Center Theatre’s
epic three-part The Coast of Utopia and
understudied the role of Becca for the
New York engagement of Rabbit Hole. She
has appeared Off-Broadway in The Glory
of Living (under the direction of Phillip
Seymour Hoffman), How I Learned to
Drive,
and Love’s Fire (under the direction
of Mark Lamos). Dylan Chalfy plays Becca’s
conflicted husband Howie Corbett. He has
appeared in the acclaimed Lincoln Center
revival of O’Neill’s Ah,
Wilderness! and Circle in the Square’s The
Rose Tattoo opposite Mercedes Ruehl. He has
done hard time on television’s Law & Order,
Law & Order SVU, and HBO’s prison
drama Oz.
Joey Parsons,
playing the role of Becca’s
offbeat sister Izzy, returns to Connecticut
where she studied at the Yale School of
Drama and appeared in the Yale Repertory
Theatre’s Measure for Measure. She
appeared on Broadway in the September 11th
benefit performance of Disorderly Conduct and has extensive regional credits. Jo
Twiss marks her TheaterWorks debut in the
role of Nat, Becca’s straight-talking
mother. Ms. Twiss appeared on Broadway
in the Ashley Judd-Jason Patric revival
of Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. She has appeared
extensively Off-Broadway, including over
75 productions for the Circle Repertory
Lab Theatre. She appears in the upcoming
Revolutionary Road, the highly-anticipated
film shot in Connecticut that reunites
Titanic leads Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate
Winslet. Rounding out the cast is newcomer
Alec Silberblatt in the role of teenager
Jason. Rabbit Hole marks his professional
debut in a performance The Pittsburgh
Tribune-Review calls, “delightful.”
Rabbit Hole reunites director Ruggiero with a team
of TheaterWorks veteran designers – Luke
Hegel-Cantarella (sets), Anne
Kenney (costumes),
John Lasiter (lighting), and Vincent
Olivieri (sound).
Rabbit Hole runs June
6th through July 20th at TheaterWorks,
233 Pearl Street in downtown Hartford
(wheelchair accessible).
Performances are Tuesdays, Wednesdays and
Thursdays at 7:30 p.m.; Fridays and Saturdays
at 8:00 p.m. with matinees on Saturdays
and Sundays at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $37 for weeknights and matinees;
$47 for Friday and Saturday evenings. Seating
is general admission. Center reserved seats
are $11 extra. College-age student rush
tickets are $11 at show time with valid
school ID (subject to availability). Special
discounts are available for groups of 11
or more. A limited number of complimentary
tickets for residents of downtown Hartford
are available for select performances,
courtesy of United Technologies (call for
details).
Rabbit Hole is sponsored by The
Hartford with additional
production support provided
by the Edward C. and Ann T. Roberts
Foundation.
TheaterWorks’ 2007-2008 Season is
sponsored by Aetna, with additional support
provided by the Greater Hartford
Arts Council, Hartford
Foundation for Public Giving,
and the Connecticut Commission
on Culture and Tourism. TheaterWorks’ Youth
Program is underwritten by Lincoln
Financial Foundation.
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