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Tragedies are bricks carried in one’s pocket, pulling them down the rabbit hole. Some have a single brick, while others have enough to build a wall.

Last year, the Regional Theatre of the Palouse (RTOP) started the After Dark Series, featuring contemporary and gritty shows that focus on adult subjects.

“(It’s) more adult subjects, such as loss,” said RTOP artistic director Jasper Barbosa-Rodriguez. “Sometimes we have sexual-based shows more to do with real life and relationships.”

This is Barbosa-Rodriguez’s first directing opportunity, given to him by executive director of RTOP John Rich. Barbosa-Rodriguez studies at WSU but has taken a year off to do the show.

The After Dark Series began with previous director Tony Luetkenhaus as a way to reach the student population of Pullman. While RTOP does a lot of musical theater, these shows are specifically chosen to engage the undergraduate and graduate student population, cast member and WSU veterinary school professor Jenni Zambriski said.

The first show in the series is Pulitzer Prize winner “Rabbit Hole,” taking place in 1990s Larchmont, New York. It tells the story of a family struggling through grief after an accident kills the four-year-old son of Becca, played by Zambriski.

“‘Rabbit Hole’ is a beautifully written play about the dynamics of a family in the wake of a tragic loss … not just of a child but the loss of each family as they know each other,” said Alyssa Dalbeck, cast member who plays Becca’s pregnant sister, Izzy and a WSU graduate of music.

Dalbeck described Izzy as the irresponsible but endearing younger sister. She’s sassy and spunky, but is still affected by the grief. While the focus of the play centers on Becca’s loss of her son, Izzy has also lost her connection to her sister.

Rhonda Osborne-Dater plays Nat, Becca and Izzy’s mother, who identifies with Becca as she lost her son, their brother, a heroin addict, when he hung himself. Osborne-Dater described Nat as an irritating adhesive, but ultimately the glue of the family that’s been through hell.

“There’s a metaphor here,” Osborne-Dater said. “When you’re going down a rabbit hole, you gotta be careful. Going down into this thing that is changing you. You’ve got a lot of different options.”

Zambriski said Becca is an angry character because the world robbed her of something she desperately wanted, and now she is trying to figure out why. She shuns any form of support, holding onto her grief as a way of keeping her lost son.

“There is a passage in this play where Becca asks Nat, ‘Does it ever go away? This feeling?’” Zambriski said. “Nat’s response is … no, it doesn’t go away. You carry it around in your pocket like a brick, but you keep holding onto it because it’s what you have instead of this person you lost.”

Tragedy does not have to be losing someone to death. “Rabbit Hole” deals with loss, but the concept can apply to loss of oneself or losing a relationship, Barbosa-Rodriguez said.

Loss can also be simple, such as the last time your mom picks you up and the dynamic between you and her changes, Dalbeck said. Even on a less profound level, it is about wishing to have something back from a previous point in one’s life.

“There is a lot of beauty in tragedy,” Dalbeck said. “Tragedy is a journey, coming out of it and seeing the light or even falling into it and figuring out how to crawl back out.”

Challenges always arise when trying to accurately portray characters and their emotions. Personal experience and finding oneself in the character is what helps when becoming them.

By finding a little bit of yourself in the way you speak and inflect allows for an actor to become their character, Dalbeck said.

“The dialogue is very natural,” Osborne-Dater said. “The strain on each of the relationships is very true. The way you understand what’s happening here is almost osmosis.”

Dalbeck said she enjoyed working on the show and being introduced to new things about how to work the script. Zambriski said she loves what RTOP brings to the community and feels honored to be part of it.

“This past month has really opened my mind in ways that I have never thought it could have been,” Barbosa-Rodriguez said. “As a first-time director, it’s been so educational for me.”

“Rabbit Hole” opens at 8 p.m. on Sept. 22 – 24, 30 and Oct. 1 at RTOP in downtown Pullman. Tickets are on sale for $12 on the RTOP website. There will be beer and wine available for purchase.