A HAMPSTEAD THEATRE PRODUCTION

RABBIT HOLE

By DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE
Directed by EDWARD HALL

Running time: 2 HOURS INCLUDING AN INTERVAL

£10 - £35 (See ticket information)

If space is infinite, then there are tons of you’s out there, and tons of me’s

Main Stage

29 Jan - 5 Mar 2016
£10 - £35

Box Office: 020 7722 9301

Details

★★★★ The Times
★★★★ The Sunday Times
★★★★ Mail On Sunday
★★★★ WhatsOnStage 

Becca and Howie Corbett are a happy suburban couple with everything they could want until a shocking and sudden event turns their world upside down and leaves them drifting perilously apart...


David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning drama, filled with distinctive wit and grace, charts the path from grief to its antidotes – love and hope.

Lindsay-Abaire’s most recent play at Hampstead Theatre was the sell-out comedy,Good People, which starred Imelda Staunton, and transferred to the West End last year.Edward Hall has directed some of Hampstead’s biggest hits including the Olivier Award-winning musical Sunny AfternoonChariots of Fire and Wonderland.

Claire Skinner (Outnumbered) and Tom Goodman-Hill (Mr Selfridge) lead the cast, which also includes Penny Downie (Downton Abbey), Georgina Rich (Dirty Dancing) and Sean Delaney making his professional stage debut, having recently graduated fromRADA this year.

This production is made possible by the generous support of Lin and Ken Craig.

Reviews
  • The Times

    Edward Hall’s production, a British premiere, is a cathartic joy precisely because of its balance, its lack of goo, its vivid sense of the wonky, wry, sometimes volatile way we all behave with the ones we love. Claire Skinner and Tom Goodman-Hill are simply superb…

    Ashley Martin-Davis’ set is such a suburban dream home, and the tone is so even, that here and there you wonder if this wit and, yes, wisdom will come to the dramatic boil. It does, though, with the introduction of an outsider, Jason, the teenage driver of the car that killed Danny. He’s apologetic but placid, unpredictable, acts like someone you both feel you know and like someone you feel you’ve never met before. It’s a standout professional debut from Sean Delaney.

    Lindsay-Abaire’s writing is so good because the storytelling is as clear as the characters are complex. Lines, comic or sad, are like tips of icebergs. The final notes of optimism hit hard because they acknowledge that hope takes work but has to be worth it.

    'Edward Hall’s production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a cathartic joy. Claire Skinner and Tom Goodman-Hill are simply superb'
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  • Mail on Sunday

    ‘Carefully observed, quietly eloquent… Edward Hall’s adroit production aches with sadness, all the more for its restraint.’

    ‘The mother’s tears, when she finally weeps for the young man her boy will never be, are like a dam bursting.’

    ‘Until then, Claire Skinner’s clenched Becca has been holding it together by keeping Danny’s room as it always was and obsessively baking comfort food. Tom Goodman-Hill’s husband Howie watches home videos of his little boy.’

    ‘But as Becca tentatively reaches for Howie’s hand, it seems they might find a way forward, together.’

    Rabbit Hole at Hampstead Theatre review
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  • WhatsOnStage

    ‘Mourning becomes electric when you are learning how to grieve, and the New York suburban couple beautifully played by Claire Skinner and Tom Goodman-Hill in David Lindsay-Abaire’s taut, unsentimental play are struggling to cope with the death of their young son eight months ago in a car accident.’

    ‘Becca’s sister Izzy (vividly played by Georgina Rich) is pregnant herself, she’s just slugged her boyfriend’s ex on a drunken night out in Yonkers, which doesn’t do much for Becca’s sense of fairness. And their mother Nat – Penny Downie releases, delightfully, her inner Bea Arthur on this tactless old trout.’

    ‘The quiet, steely acting in Edward Hall’s exemplary production’

    Sean Delaney, newly graduated from RADA, makes an impressive, un-showy professional debut – his stillness and frankness are as unexpected as they are refreshing.’

    ‘When Skinner sits alone in that bedroom with the letter, or on the sofa with Howie in the last, highly charged scene, you feel the full force of a modern tragedy.’

    Rabbit Hole review
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  • The Stage

    ‘American writer David Lindsay-Abaire, whose Good People was a hit at Hampstead Theatre in 2014 and subsequently transferred to the West End, is back with another scorching drama’

    ‘Lindsay-Abaire’s writing prickles with poignant pain, stunningly articulated in anguished performances from Claire Skinner and Tom Goodman-Hill.’

    ‘Becca’s newly pregnant sister Izzy and their mother Nat are on hand to lend support, played in Edward Hall’s deeply felt production with tenderness and bewilderment byGeorgina Rich and Penny Downie respectively. But it is the late arrival of a fifth character, played with remarkable feeling by recent RADA graduate Sean Delaney, that contains the most drama.’

    ‘Emotionally shattering’: Rabbit Hole at Hampstead Theatre
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  • The Sunday Times

    Tom Goodman-Hill’s Howie and Claire Skinner’s Becca had all they could wish for until, just eight months ago, their four-year-old son, Danny, chased a dog into the road and was killed by a car.’

    ‘Everyone feels guilty: everyone says the wrong thing. Unusually, you watch the reactions of those who are listening, rather than those who are talking.’

    ‘Skinner keeps herself under tight control, yet every fleeting feeling can be read on her face.’

    David Lindsay-Abaire writes with such wry perception that he makes an unbearable subject strangely watchable and even occasionally humorous, helped by an outstanding cast.’

    Rabbit Hole review
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Cast

Artistic team

WRITER

DAVID LINDSAY-ABAIRE

DIRECTOR

EDWARD HALL

DESIGNER

ASHLEY MARTIN-DAVIS

LIGHTING

RICK FISHER

SOUND

PAUL GROOTHUIS

COMPOSER

TIM PHILLIPS

Cast

News

Rabbit Hole: ★★★★ from Mail On Sunday

Posted on 14 February 2016

Rabbit Hole review Georgina Brown, Mail On Sunday

Rabbit Hole: ★★★★ from The Sunday Times

Posted on 14 February 2016

Rabbit Hole review Jane Edwardes, The Sunday Times

Rabbit Hole: ★★★★ from The Times

Posted on 6 February 2016

Edward Hall’s production of David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play is a cathartic joy.

Rabbit Hole: ★★★★ from WhatsOnStage

Posted on 5 February 2016

The Moderate Soprano review By Michael Coveney, WhatsOnStage

Rabbit Hole: ★★★★ from The Stage

Posted on 5 February 2016

Rabbit Hole review at Hampstead Theatre – ‘emotionally shattering’ By Mark Shenton, The Stage

Inside the rehearsal room with Rabbit Hole's Sean Delaney

Posted on 26 January 2016

Now a couple weeks into rehearsals, I’ve been asked to share a bit on how the experience of Rabbit Hole has been so far.

Edward Hall introduces Rabbit Hole

Posted on 25 January 2016

David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer winning Rabbit Hole has been on my radar since I arrived at Hampstead and presenting its UK premiere is a real pleasure, particularly after the success of Good People here two years ago.

Tickets

Previews, Mondays and matinees 
Full price: £28/£25/£18
Under 30s/Students: £15/£10* 
Seniors (matinees only): £20/£18/£15
Groups: For every 9 tickets get the 10th free
Access: £15

Tuesday – Saturday evenings 
Full price: £35/£30/£25
Under 30s/Students: £15/£10* 
Groups: For every 9 tickets get the 10th free
Access: £15

*Under 30s and Student concession seats are available in rows A (£15) & Q (£10)

Audio described performance:
4 March at 7.30pm, with a touch tour at 6pm

Captioned performance:
29 Feb 7.30pm, with a transcribed post show discussion

Video and Image Gallery

Claire Skinner (Becca) Claire Skinner (Becca)
Claire Skinner (Becca) and Georgina Rich (Issy) Claire Skinner (Becca) and Georgina Rich (Issy)
Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie) and Claire Skinner (Becca) Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie) and Claire Skinner (Becca)
Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie) Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie)
Georgina Rich (Issy) and Penny Downie (Nat) Georgina Rich (Issy) and Penny Downie (Nat)
Georgina Rich (Issy) and Penny Downie (Nat) Georgina Rich (Issy) and Penny Downie (Nat)
Georgina Rich (Issy) Georgina Rich (Issy)
Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie) Tom Goodman-Hill (Howie)
Sean Delaney (Jason) Sean Delaney (Jason)

KEEPING YOU SAFE AT HAMPSTEAD

1 Social Distanced 1

RESPECT PERSONAL SPACE

2 MASKS REQUIRED 1

FACE MASKS ENCOURAGED

4 STATE OF THE ART VENTILATION 1

STATE OF THE ART VENTILATION

5 ENHANCED CLEANING 1

ENHANCED CLEANING

7 CONTACTLESS TICKETS 1

CONTACTLESS TICKETS

8 HAND SANITIZING STATIONS 2

HAND SANITISING STATIONS

9 CASHLESS PAYMENT 1

CASHLESS PAYMENT