Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole
Cover of published text
Written by	David Lindsay-Abaire
Characters	Becca Corbett Howie Corbett Izzy Nat Jason Willette
Date premiered	2006
Place premiered	Pacific Playwrights Festival Costa Mesa, California
Original language	English
Subject	A family copes with the untimely death of a child.
Genre	Drama
Setting	The Home of Howie and Becca Corbett, Larchmont, NY, Present

Rabbit Hole is a play written by David Lindsay-Abaire. It was the recipient of the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered on Broadway in 2006, and it has also been produced by regional theatres in cities such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. The play had its Spanish language premiere in San Juan, Puerto Rico in Autumn of 2010.

The play deals with the ways family members survive a major loss, and includes comedy as well as drama. Cynthia Nixon won the 2006 Tony Award for Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play for her performance as Becca in the New York production, and the play was nominated for several other Tony awards.

Becca—Howie's wife in her late thirties. She is usually a very responsible and sensible person, but makes some rash decisions throughout the play because of grief. Howie accuses her of subconsciously trying to "erase" Danny by selling the house, packing up his artwork, and getting rid of their dog, even erasing the most recent home video of Danny.
Izzy—Becca's irresponsible but well-wishing sister. She is unwed, but in a relationship with Auggie. She is pregnant throughout the duration of the play. Tension is created as Becca's mourning for her lost child lingers, and she is suspicious of Izzy's ability to raise her own.

Howie—Becca's husband in his late thirties. He is very caring, but has a hard time dealing with Danny's death, which causes him to be angry and depressed, though he hides it as much as possible. He obsessively watches home movies of Danny and thinks that the best way to move on is to try for another child. He attends group grief counseling meetings. It is implied that he has an affair with a woman from this group. He does not want to meet with Jason, whom he blames for Danny's death.
Nat—Izzy and Becca's mother. She is the voice of reason for her daughters. She helps Howie and Becca in the moving process, and provides motherly experience to Becca. Her son (Becca's brother, Arthur), a heroin addict, hanged himself at the age of 30. Becca, however, does not want to hear this, as she feels that the deaths are not comparable. She eventually realizes that her mother has gone through this as well, and accepts the comfort.
Jason Willette—17-year-old boy who accidentally hit Danny with his car, leading to Danny's death. He lives with his mom; his father's whereabouts are never revealed, but the script suggests he's dead. He enjoys science fiction and writes a story about wormholes to other dimensions in Danny's memory, which he publishes in the school's literary magazine. He sends this story to Becca and Howie. He later shows up at the open house, wanting to talk to Howie and Becca. Howie chases him away, but he later meets with Becca. He blames himself for Danny's death.