Sun. Dec. 3

Last weekend alert! When he was a student at Julliard, David Lindsay-Abaire was challenged by his mentor, Marsha Norman. She told him if he wanted to write a good play, write about the thing that frightens you most in the world. At the time, he didn't know. Then he became a father. When his son was 3, he heard stories from friends of friends whose children had died suddenly, and just as suddenly Lindsay-Abaire knew what frightened him the most. In the Tony-nominated "Rabbit Hole," up, for its finale, Dec. 3 at the Huntington Theatre, Becca (Donna Bullock) and Howie (Jordan Lage) suffered the accidental death of their son (he's hit by a car, chasing the family dog across the street) eight months ago and it's ripping them apart.

 Their son's room is unchanged; there are his drawings on the fridge; Howie takes refuge in watching he and his son play on video. Howie and Becca aren't having sex. Becca thinks they should sell the house, start over. Howie is going to a support group; Becca did, but hated the people talking about their child's death in terms of "God needed another angel." These are smart, successful people at wit's end, grieving almost always no matter what else they seem to be doing. Becca says to him: "You're not in a better place - sort of a different place." Howie says, "Something has to change here ... it's too hard, it's too hard." Becca's mum, Nat (Maureen Anderman) delivers the best take on grief when she discusses the heroin-overdose of her 30-year-old son: The pain is always with you. It lessens, but does not leave. Did we mention this play also has generous bits of humor? It's not a landslide of sorrow. But it's very moving and it all feels real. The characters don't make stage-y quips; there's no flag of cleverness raised by Lindsay-Abaire, a Boston native, by the way. When the play ended, someone behind me asked, "That's the end of the play?" Which is to say, without giving anything away, you shouldn't go in expecting resolution to something that maybe never resolves and certainly takes lots of time. It is, though, a challenging, rewarding night at the theater. It runs Tuesday-Thursday at 7:30, Friday and Saturday and Sunday Nov. 26. There are matinees Saturday and Sunday at 2, also on Wednesday Nov. 22 and 29. Tickets $75-$44.

264 Huntington Ave., 617-266-0800 huntingtontheatre.org