When the audience entered the Wexner Center Performance Space for the U.S. premier of the stage performance "Story of a Rabbit," it wasn't quite clear when the introduction ended and the show began.
The show's star, Hugh Hughes, kindly greeted each audience member with a smile and handshake, while his soft-spoken partner Aled Williams played piano. While many were still finding their seats, Hughes charmed the crowd with a simple yet engaging knack for conversation.
"Story of a Rabbit," presented by British theater company Hoipolloi, is an award-winning stage performance. In it, Hughes, a Welsh actor, discusses, reenacts and reflects upon the mysteries of death after finding a dead rabbit in his neighbor's yard.
Hughes, who interacted with the crowd throughout the performance, took time to pour a cup of tea for two members of the audience. At one point he even ran off the stage to a sitting room in the Wexner Center to get an extra teacup.
"You're really quite a lot of trouble," Hughes said, returning with the teacup for a woman in the audience. "At the same time you bring extraordinary excitement."
As Hughes walked around the stage performing heartfelt and lively monologues, Williams was hard at work lighting the stage and playing the piano, guitar and banjo to engage the audience musically and visually. Williams said it was important to him that all the music and effects were live, in order to provide uniqueness to each performance and to personally connect with the audience.
"You're going to have to take some time tonight and just watch Aled," Hughes said during the performance. "He's really very busy over there."
At points the show was somber as Hughes reflected on his father's death. Others laughed as he used everything from a toy action figure to a potato to describe the actions and emotions he experienced throughout his life.
A moment that was both somber and uplifting came when Hughes used an action figure, or "action man" as he put it, to show how he imagined his deceased father flying in spirit over the rooftops of his hometown of Llangefni, Wales. Hughes said that while creating "Story of a Rabbit" he discovered he could use something as simple and childish as a toy doll to demonstrate such a profound memory.
"In the rehearsal room that was a really exciting moment," Hughes said, reflecting on his decision to include the action figure. "Suddenly it just felt completely right. It was very simple and very na've."
By the end of the performance, Hughes had used a spare tire, a cardboard box and a rabbit made of sawdust to illustrate a few of his most vivid memories of life and death. By the conclusion of "Story of a Rabbit," some in the audience were left with tears in their eyes, while others had smiles on their faces.
Steve Skok can be reached at skok.2@osu.edu.
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