When Rachel McNamara was enjoying her acting stint in popular television series All Saints, she had not yet become a mother.
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Life, love and eventually family took her in the direction of teaching and a return to her Border roots about four years ago.
But she yearned to find a project that would allow a return to her craft with a story and female character "that resonated with me".
In the Pulitzer prize-winning play Rabbit Hole, McNamara has found that "nourishing experience" as an actor once again.
The play, which explores the way family members survive terrible loss, opens at Wodonga's Butter Factory Theatre on Tuesday, November 26.
McNamara, who grew up in Albury and dreamed of performing on the HotHouse stage, says she was drawn to the story of a couple whose lives are changed forever when their young son is killed in an accident.
"It resonates so powerfully because I have a four-year-old son," she said.
"It is beautiful the way the play unearths conversations about loss and grief - and it makes space for people to grieve in their own way."
McNamara said that while Rabbit Hole was thematically a story she wanted to tell, it also utilised the "amazing talents" of another former All Saints star in Ben Tari, who has relocated to Albury with his family.
The play, which is being directed by Gabriella Rose Carter, will also feature HSC drama teacher Gretchen Prowse who McNamara describes as an "exquisite actress".
"All three of us had been working as teachers and felt we were ready to return to the craft if the right role came up - and David Lindsay Abaire has written just those characters," she said.
McNamara said the play, which she described as "disarming and beautifully written", was both tragic and funny.
"It is a reminder that there is hope, that we can laugh and grow back together and that we all grieve differently," she said.
- Rabbit Hole is at Wodonga's Butter Factory Theatre from 7.30pm, November 26-28. For details or to book go to hothousetheatre.com.au