Players Centre drops down the ‘Rabbit Hole’ for second time

Actress Lynne Doyle had just one night to perform her role in David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Rabbit Hole” in 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic forced the Players Centre for Performing Arts to shut down the production.

This week she gets a second chance with an all new cast and director as the community theater features the play as the opening attraction of its annual Summer Sizzler series, beginning Wednesday.

Arts Newsletter: Sign up to receive the latest news on the Sarasota area arts scene every Monday

Next moves for Players Centre?: Sarasota commissioners seek compromise on municipal auditorium lease and management

The production is dedicated to the memory of Helen Holliday, who directed the initial production and died earlier this year. The theater’s new Artistic Director Lee Gundersheimer, who joined the staff in January, said “Rabbit Hole” might not have been the first play he would have chosen for his local directorial debut, “but I felt strongly that it needed to be given great care for Helen’s memory. There’s something incredibly brilliant in a play about loss amid a great loss we all have dealt with that needed to be respected as fully and honestly as possible.”

After the 2019 production was shut down, Doyle said she sent a note to former Artistic Director Jeffery Kin, praising Holliday and saying she would work with her again "in a heartbeat. I sure hope she has an opportunity to direct again at The Players and that whatever project she is presented with there’s a part for an old dame like me."

“Rabbit Hole” is about a married couple coping with the death of their 4-year-old son in an accident and the impact it has on their relationship and those around them. Doyle plays the grandmother, Nat, who questions the way her daughter Becca is grieving and the decisions she is making.

Gundersheimer said he tried to bring back as many of the original cast members as possible, but most had either stopped performing or were not available for this new version.

Moving on: Jeffery Kin leaving Players Centre after 15 years to lead new arts festival

Celebrating cultural arts scene: Proposed festival could bring national attention

The cast features Laura Grieme as Becca, Charlie Agurcia as her husband, Howie; Amanda Heisey as her sister, Izzy; and Lev Siegel who has a key role as Jason.

Doyle said this new staging is a familiar but different experience.

“The lines are still the same, but the way they’re being done is different,” she said. “We have a different director who has a sort of different vision and the other actors are bringing their own personal point of view.”

While she generally doesn’t like to do plays more than once, “This is different. I really didn’t get to do it. And I could say David Lindsay-Abaire’s words every day. I love this playwright. He writes for actors, which makes it fun for me.”

While the play deals with some heavy and difficult issues, Gundersheimer said “it’s surprisingly funny at times. It’s not a dirge. The characters, especially the sister, Izzy, are incredibly interesting and funny in their own way.”

And Doyle said the story “offers some hope. It shows what the power of forgiveness can do on many different levels in this play. It’s funny and it pulls at your heartstrings and you come away hopeful.”

‘Rabbit Hole’

By David Lindsay-Abaire. Directed by Lee Gundersheimer. Runs June 8-19, Players Center for Performing Arts at Studio 1130, Crossings at Siesta Key Mall, 3501 S. Tamiami Trail, Sarasota. Tickets are $23.50-$26.50; $14 for students. 941-365-2494; theplayers.org

Follow Jay Handelman on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. Contact him at jay.handelman@heraldtribune.com. And please support local journalism by subscribing to the Herald-Tribune.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Players Center gives second try to Pulitzer-winning 'Rabbit Hole'