Down the Rabbit Hole

Much like the beloved heroine in Lewis Carroll's Children's books, I have had adventures travelling down the rabbit hole recently. And they've been wonderful!

In October, I had the opportunity to play one of my "bucket list" roles. I was cast as Becca in the Paris Community Theatre Off-Plaza production of David Lindsay-Abaire's Rabbit Hole. It is the toughest role I've ever had the chance to play.

The character is trying to work her way through the terrible grief following the loss of her 4-year-old son in a tragic car accident. I am not a parent, nor do I wish to have children, so honoring the spirit of the character as a parent was extremely important to me. I can only hope I was able to do so.

More importantly to me as an actor was "living truthfully under the imaginary circumstances" of the play. I feel the entire cast was able to reach this goal. Each night the emotions were real, and we worked to connect at a human level as a cast.

I've never worked on a show that could drag such real, honest emotions out of me. It also seemed to drag out all of my insecurities. I know I gave my director a hard time, and I regret that I was often so negative throughout the process. However, in spite of all the ups and downs of the rehearsal process, I am proud of the finished product we presented each night.

Just a few short weeks after Rabbit Hole closed, I began directing an adaptation of Alice in Wonderland as a part of the Paris Community Theatre regular season.

I have a confession to make here: I have never really liked the story. 

So often, the characters are portrayed as grotesque or even frightening. In the take on the story that my amazing company chose, we discovered the characters again for the first time. I was so proud of them for finding lightness and humor. And beauty. Our Duchess, Cook, and Queen of Hearts were all beautiful, funny, and silly!

We also decided that we would approach the play as a kind of  reverse Wizard of OZ. We incorporated many "Steampunk-inspired" elements into the design. We wanted Wonderland itself to be more Earth-toned and mechanized. We reserved the soft, Technicolor-inspired moments for the beginning and ending of the play, which we set at Christmas in Alice's home, since the play closed just before that holiday.

I have never been so happy and relaxed working on a show before and was incredibly proud of the finished product. I can't really say "I" directed or "I" created,  because it was the most collaborative process in which I've ever participated.

Now, I'm preparing to enter the world of Rabbit Hole one more time. We will travel the show to TNT (Texas Nonprofit Theatres) Quad II AACTFest on January 31st.

 
I learned many lessons about myself and the power of performing art working on these two productions.  I am looking forward to learning more as we rehearse Rabbit Hole one more time.  After having been so content working on Alice in Wonderland, and so emotional working on Rabbit Hole the first time,  I hope that I can now approach the process with  an open mind and heart,  and move past my insecurities to do great work.

I plan to write more on the subject as the festival approaches,  but for now,  this marks and celebrates two amazing adventures down the rabbit hole as I look forward to a third!

Until Next Time...
Ro Huizinga