Agot Isidro endures emotional pain for 1st straight play
A review of Red Turnip's "Rabbit Hole"
"This feeling (grief)… Does it ever go away?” Becca asks.
“No. I think it does,” Nat replies. “It changes though. At some point it becomes bearable. It turns into something you can crawl out from under, and carry around - like a brick in your pocket.”
Grieving mothers
These lines come from grieving mothers Becca and Nat, the characters Agot Isidro and Sheila Francisco, respectively, play. The two, who happen to be mother and daughter, are reeling from their respective sons’ deaths.
Becca lost 4-year-old son Danny to an accident when a car hit him as he was chasing the family dog in the street 8 months ago. Nat’s son, meanwhile, hung himself to death 11 years before that.
Eight months, 11 years? It doesn’t make a difference. A loss is a loss. You can go on with your life, but the pain remains. It never ever goes away.
The play is painful -- for mothers and non-mothers -- because the emotion it passes on to the audience is universal. Agot is so relatable, you genuinely share her grief. Her 7-year theater hiatus is sorely missed. Good thing theater is giving this underrated but great talent the spotlight she deserves.
The theater world should demand that Agot stay longer for her first straight play – and the next.
Great ensemble
What else is good about Agot? She generously shares the limelight with co-actors. Quite expected perhaps, since theater is always selfless. It gives space for the talented.
Speaking of co-actors, seasoned thespian Michael Williams is good as usual as he portrays Becca’s husband Howie. His character is reserved, but has moments of collapsing when he couldn’t contain pain. Sheila, Che Ramos-Cosio (as Izzy) and Ross Pesigan (as Jason) complete a great ensemble.
David Lindsay-Abaire’s script is simple and quiet, the lines occasionally funny and powerful when needed.
Washing down the pain
Topper Fabregas (a first-time director, mind you) is excellent in piecing this amazing play together. The pressure might’ve helped since the project is based on an American play which won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama (it was later adapted into a film that earned Nicole Kidman an Oscar Best Actress nomination in 2010.)
Regardless of how heavy the two-hour play is, the characters thankfully come to terms with grief — washing down the pain it shares with the audience.
“Rabbit Hole” runs all weekends of August at Whitespace, Makati City. For details, check out Red Turnip’s Facebook page.
