David Lindsay-Abaire

More than a collection of the well-known childhood legends, "Rise of the Guardians" tells the story of a group of heroes - each with extraordinary abilities. When the evil Pitch lays down the gauntlet to take over the world, the immortal Guardians must join forces for the first time to protect the hopes, beliefs and imagination of children all over the world.

Rabbit Hole is a play about a bereaved family, but it’s also just a play about family, about relationships, about life, and about all the tragedies and hopes it throws at us. It is so effective in its portrayal of grief and the process of grieving precisely because it does not present it in isolation, but as part of the awkward hotchpotch of the characters’ lives, informed and tempered by their past experiences and desires for the future. The play doesn’t have a strong dramatic arc, show more but the naturalistic presentation frames the scenes as a view into the characters ongoing lives. Just as the action is dominated by an event that happened several months before, it gives the impression that the character’s lives will continue after the curtain has fallen, and that allows the play to end on a cautiously optimistic note. show less

This was well-written, but there's little more I can say about it. In the author's afterward, he notes that overacting or extra sentiment (beyond what's written in the stage directions) bring on the danger of this becoming a life-time movie. Well, I have to say--to me, this was simply an un-fleshed-out life-time movie. It's about grief. That's it. The characters act in the stereotypical way, say the stereotypical things, and do, basically, exactly what the audience expects. It would be fair show more to say this is true to life, I suppose, but it may just be too oddly normal to Be true to life.

In the end, this wasn't a play I would go to see, and it's not something I'll come back to. If you've gone through grief over a loved one, this might ring true, but it won't do much else. Unfortunately, I have to say that it's forgettable, and that while the author can write, I don't have a clue why this particular play won any notice. I wouldn't be averse to picking up some of his other work if it comes my way, but I won't go searching it out, and I'm afraid I can't recommend this one unless you just want a slice of realism that you can read quickly and move on from with little effect. show less

Tough content, but beautifully written and with just enough wit to make it hopeful.