Cry it Out by Molly Smith Metzler - 1m, 3w
Four months ago, Jessie was a corporate lawyer with a glamorous Manhattan life. Today, she is in dirty yoga pants, covered in breast milk, trying to comfort a screaming newborn. Isolated in a sleepy Long Island suburb while her commuter husband works long hours, Jessie is desperate to talk to anyone besides Food Network. So when she spies a fellow new mom and neighbor, Lina, at the local Stop & Shop, she vaults over the cantaloupe to introduce herself. Happy to have found each other, the two moms agree to meet for coffee during naptime in the sweet spot behind their adjoining yards where both their baby monitors get reception, and a fast friendship is born. Jessie and Lina may be from vastly different financial backgrounds—Jessie is Ivy-educated and of the manor born; Lina has a night-school nursing degree and terrible credit—but they have one huge thing in common: they’ve been cracked open by the love they feel for their newborns. One coffee quickly becomes a daily coffee, as Jessie and Lina laugh through the highs and lows of motherhood. But their intimacy is punctured when a stranger who lives in the mansion up on the cliff appears in the yard, asking if they would include his wife, a new mom who is having “a hard time,” in their coffee klatch. Reluctantly, the duo tries to become a trio, but with very mixed—and surprising—results. After all, this is a town where the haves and the have-nots live in very close company; up on the cliff is Sands Point, one of the most expensive Great Gatsby-esque neighborhoods in the whole country. How could that woman possibly be having a “hard time”? A comedy with dark edges, Cry It Out takes an honest look at the absurdities of being home with a baby, the power of female friendship, the dilemma of going back to work, and the effect class has on parenthood in America.
Labels: comedy, contemporary, drama, small cast
posted by Larisa at 4:02 PM
9 Comments:
I loved this script. Absolutely hilarious yet heartfelt and complex, with a wonderfully nuanced, realistic, and bittersweet ending. I normally prefer scripts with a bit more action and scene changes, but this play was able to use dialogue alone to tell a complex and deeply engaging story. I like the focus on class differences and modern parenting. I do wish Adrienne was in more scenes.
I really enjoyed this script. Maybe it is because I so vividly still remember those early days of motherhood and how other mothers saved me in that time, but this felt very real, nuanced, and I found myself crying just reading it on more then one occasion. Very achievable in the round, I think this is a beautiful play.
I have been gravitating towards a lot of scripts that deal with being a parent, specifically motherhood, because of my own life. I think there is a lot of nuance and complexity in the themes of this script, even if the plot is fairly simplistic. COVID broke open how impossible parenting feels in today's realities and I think a lot of people could relate to this play.
From Howard: Never having been a father, I don't relate to "Cry it Out" as others may. However, I have known a number of people with a variety of difficulties related to parenting and jobs. I have known a couple, both with high pressure jobs where one of them quit and retrained so they would have more time for the children. I know of another who quit a very high paying job because his one-year old, born when he started the job, no longer recognized him after a year. I have known of others who had to work to afford childcare, or health insurance to best cover the family. I'm sure it will relate to a number of our audience members. Keep it in the mix.
I liked this play. The dialogue moved along at a nice pace. It appeals to a somewhat younger audience with real concerns about balancing work and families.I think it will be very relatable to audiences. Yes for me.
I really enjoyed this script. I thought it had snappy dialogue, interesting believable contrasting characters and would play well in the arena. I think most people would sympathize with the situations these characters are facing, even if they have faced them personally. Definitely keep it in the mix.
Enjoyed the play dialogue but the author needs to know the difference between a screen play and stage play as some of the set and prop ideas were crazy for a stage. For example there will be no throwing raw eggs on a stage. Also this is a large lack of movement. But keep it in the mix.
I liked this script! There's a nice mix of humor, vulnerability, and social commentary. I think the topics of motherhood/parenthood and contemporary feminism will resonate with audiences.
The only interesting challenge I could see is how to block that openings scene with the two characters meeting for the first time. That's not a dealbreaker, it's just an interesting challenge for our space.
I understand the appeal and enjoyed it personally, but I also feel that the existing base would be put off by a lot of the content. I don’t know how you stage breastfeeding in our intimate space. while I have no issue with women breast-feeding, an actress breast-feeding in the round, I think, would prove challenging. I am fine keeping it in the mix, but I think that there are numerous challenges and we would need to find the right director.
Post a Comment
<< Home