Langhorne Players Presents ‘Rabbit Hole’

Success is often a matter of persistence, trying one more time than you fail. As Samuel Johnson said: “Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.”

Langhorne Players’ fourth offering of the season – Rabbit Hole, which runs Aug. 19 through Sept. 3 – is a result of such diligent determination. Two years ago, director Robert Norman tried to get the rights to the 2007 Pulitzer Prize-winning play written by David Lindsay-Abaire. He failed. He tried again last year and failed again.

“It’s a play we’ve had our eye on for a couple of years,” Norman said about the drama in which a young couple deal with the accidental death of their 4-year-old son.  Surprisingly – for those who haven’t already seen the 2010 movie version starring Nicole Kidman – “it’s not morose,” he added. 

The play is relatable and “the humor is so real ... It’s easy to empathize with the characters,” Norman said, “not just sympathize.”

The characters in the play are what drove his persistence in obtaining the rights for Langhorne Players. It is a well told, character-driven story. Norman said he has an extraordinary cast for the challenge.

Playing the young mother is Kyla Mostello Donnelly of Levittown. Her husband is played by Philadelphian Aaron Wexler. Julia Wise of Huntingdon Valley is her sister and Ambler’s Linda Palmarozza her mother. Portraying the teenager who drove the car that killed the little boy is Tim Schumann of Warrington.

“You need great actors for a play like this,” Norman said. “The amount of nuance is critical for the depths of the characters to come out.”

Norman insists that the play is not depressing. It is, however, “touching, with a lot of sadness."

“The characters inject humor into a scene and give the audience a chance to relax and laugh,” Norman said. “Then there’s a touching moment. As you watch the story unfold, it’s balanced in that way.

In his own words, “It’s about how you move on, how you get on with your life.”

That is persistence.

Rabbit Hole runs Aug. 19, 20, 21, 25, 26, 27, 28 and 31 and Sept. 1, 2 and 3 at Spring Garden Mill in Tyler State Park, 1440 Newtown-Richboro Road. Curtain times are Wednesday and Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday at 8:00 p.m., and Sunday at 3:00 p.m. Ticket prices are $12-$14. For additional information, visit www.langhorneplayers.org or call (215) 860-0818.