Entering the 'Rabbit Hole': A Behind the Scenes Look

If you sit in the audience this Thursday as Rabbit Hole debuts at Skippack's theater, you will watch five characters in danger of unraveling as they grapple with a 4-year-old boy's accidental death.

Sitting in the same audience seats last week, as the cast and crew toiled to bring David Lindsay-Abaire's Pulitzer-Prize winning work to life, you would have seen a small group drawn together by their love of theater.

"Passion" was the actors' common answer as to what brings them to the community theater stage.

"That’s why we’re here; we’re not getting paid," said Jeff Wu, who plays Howie, whose marriage to his wife, Becca, is strained after losing their son Danny.

Behind the scenes, Wu has helped build portions of the set. His wife is a choreographer, and she has worked on other Playcrafters productions.

"It’s a great script," Wu said. "You come together as people you haven’t known before, but you leave as a family.”

Christine Martuscello, who portrays Becca, had the same sentiment about her co-stars.

"It’s great working with the cast because you really kind of bond throughout the whole process. You come out with new friends,” she said.

As Becca's mother, Nat, Lauren Rozensky Flanagan is taking part in her 10th show at Playcrafters. Flanagan earned her undergraduate degree in theater at Illinois State University, but put her "passion ... on hold for about 20 years.”

Now that she's back on the theater scene, Flanagan is also a board member for Playcrafters.

"Every one of them (the shows) has been a wonderful, healing experience. I have made some incredible friends," she said in between rehearsals for Act II.

Elizabeth Hennessey is the boisterous Izzy, Becca's sister, and has been acting for more than 20 years—since her grade school days.

“It’s (acting) really just fun. It’s a passion of mine," Hennessey said, one she will indulge "whenever I have the time and it’s the right show; it all just fits together.”

Self-described “amateur playwright and actor” Brent Anders rounds out the cast as Jason, the teen who was behind the wheel of the car when he accidentally struck and killed Danny.

Anders recently graduated Eastern Mennonite University with a degree in theater. When asked about his future aspirations, he replied, "right here," describing his happiness with working with children during the day and getting to appear onstage during his off hours.

Director Lori Maxwell is another member of the production who has been involved with theater since childhood. This is her fourth show at Playcrafters, a place she describes as "cool," with a layout that offers the audience an initmate experience.

Maxwell split the Act II rehearsal into two parts, and gathered the actors onstage during the break to review their performances.

In addition to going over the timing of certain scenes, Maxwell offered praise and instruction when it came to the cast's line delivery and movements those scenes.

Rabbit Hole is about "real people and real emotions," Maxwell said. There's "nothing contrived."

The show will run through Aug. 27; tickets can be purchased here.