Mississippi State University’s theatre department will tackle death and mourning in its opening play, “Rabbit Hole.”
The play will be performed Feb. 25-27 at 7:30 p.m. in McComas Hall Lab Theatre.
“Rabbit Hole” is a Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by David Lindsay-Abaire and deals with the struggle of a family’s grief.
The plot line follows Becca and Howie Corbett after their 4-year-old son is killed in a car accident.
Jo Durst, MSU communication instructor, is directing the five-person play and said the greatest challenge of the play was working through the issues of grieving with the cast.
“Grief is a difficult topic,” she said. “It places emotional strain on young actors. [The cast] has handled [the subject matter] very well. They’ve risen to the occasion and accepted the challenge.”
Durst said the play is for mature audiences because of the PG-13 language and thematic elements. However, she said she does not want audiences to be scared away by the content.
“It has humor and a wonderful message,” she said. “It is a beautiful piece.”
Anna Smith, senior communication major who plays Becca Corbett, said even though the subject matter is difficult to watch, sticking through the play is worth it in the end.
“I thought the script was poignant and I wanted to be one of the ones to tell the story,” she said. “Everyone will find some way of relating to [the subject of grief].”
Matthew Crane, junior communication major who plays Howie Corbett, said the show reflects real life because there is laughter through the tears as the characters work through their pain of the loss of the child.
“It’s a really moving piece. It’s a story about death and the life [of the people left behind] after death. [The play] explores how people move on and put their lives back together,” Crane said.
The cast is made up of Smith, Crane, Mandy Hackman, Julie-Anna Murphy and Tabora Cook.
Durst said the cast has poured their love into the show and have been rehearsing for seven weeks.
Crane said his cast members have put in a lot of hard work preparing for the play’s opening on Thursday night.
“Every day at rehearsals I am amazed by [my cast members’] performances,” he said.
Crane also said Durst has been great with helping the cast deal with the subject matter of the play.
“Jo has been really delicate with us when working with grief, but she has helped us make it as real as possible,” he said.
Durst said she encourages all MSU students to come see the show with an open mind because of its message; even though it is not a comedy, there are humourous moments found within the play.
“We all have had similar experiences or know someone who has had a similar experience,” she said. “It teaches us the importance of knowing what we have and not taking each other for granted.”