Avery Scott and Linda Sklov

Grief is personal, and Lindsay-Abaire examines the trapdoors that undermine both parents as they try to get through each dark day. Grief becomes the central identity as they struggle for emotional air. And there is no air for Becca and Howie. Most sadly, their grieving is out of sync with each other. Instead of comforting one another, they grind against each other, driving the pain deeper and leaving each other raw.

They try hard not to blame each other—the child was killed when he ran into the street after his dog—but they can't help second guessing their own behavior. And no comfort comes from the other. The drama is honest. We get to see the unpleasant underbelly of each of these bleeding characters. Every time someone reaches out to either one of them—Becca's mom and sister, the hapless driver who hit the boy—their compassion is rebuffed and criticized. The scattered jokes in the script bring little relief from the gloom.

Even so, it's riveting. The question that keeps us interested is, how are these two people going to manage to get through? Or are they going to get through?

Rabbit Hole arrived with a bundle of awards. Cynthia Nixon won a 2006 Tony Award for her performance as Becca in the New York production, and the next year, Rabbit Hole won the 2007 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

The production at the Desert Rose Playhouse directed by Shiela Freed is uneven, partly because two of the five actors are new to the production and, at the performance I attended, were reading from books. This problem will likely be corrected by the second weekend. Also, there were a few lighting glitches, such as a time gap between when a character hit a light switch and when the light actually came on or went off.

Avery Scott as Becca was stiff early on. Becca is a stiff character, but it seemed her performance that was slightly offbeat during the first act. Scott warmed up as the play proceeded, and her scene later in the play with Jason (Garrett Losack) was pitch perfect.

Bryan Durden as Howie seemed to struggle to get the right balance between intense anger and his generally easygoing demeanor. Veteran actor Linda Sklov was wonderful as Becca's mother Nat, and Losack did a nice job with Jason, the awkward teenage driver who accidentally killed the child. Maymie Mitchell as Becca's sister was great. She was a late arrival to the production, so she carried a script, yet she was amazingly believable as the kid sister who always felt overshadowed by the ultra-competent Becca. Her performance was surprisingly convincing given the spell-breaking circumstance of a script in hand.

The Desert Rose Playhouse production of Rabbit Hole will likely sharpen up over its four-week run. The elements are in place: great set, powerful story, strong side actors, a beautiful set of songs played quietly in the distance. The key will be whether Scott as Becca and Durden as Herbie are able to inhabit the range of emotions convincingly. If so, they can begin to play off each other and create the sparks that are inherent in this fiery story.

Rabbit Hole by David Lindsay-Abaire will run at the Desert Rose Playhouse through May 17. Performances are on Fridays and Saturdays at 8:00 pm and Sundays at 2:00. Tickets are $15 for general admission, and $12 for students, seniors and Albuquerque Theatre Guild members. For reservations and information, call 505-881-0503 or visit www.facebook.com/desertroseplayhouse.

Photo: Dagmar Garza

--Rob Spiegel