Review by James Wilkinson

Cry it Out – Written by Molly Smith Metzler. Directed by Danielle Fauteux Jacques. Set Design: Ilona Overweg. Costume Design: Elizabeth Rocha. Sound Design: David Reiffel. Properties Design: Kevin McGrath. Presented by Apollinaire Theatre Company at Chelsea Theatre Works, 189 Winnisimmet St, Chelsea through January 19, 2020

If you stop and think about it, it’s actually a rather brutal title. We’ll be given context early on in the play by Molly Smith Metzler that’s now being produced by Apollinaire Theatre Company, which is helpful for those of us who have yet to enter the parenting game. “Cry it Out,” as in “Letting them cry it out,” refers to a method of sleep training where the parents refrain from comforting their wailing newborns so that the infants can learn to fall asleep without assistance. It’s a necessary skill for life, (I guess), but by attaching the phrase to a play about parenting, Metzler gives it much darker implications. As her characters attempt to navigate the trials and tribulations of young motherhood through a lens of class and circumstance, the title starts to feel like an unspoken sneer coming from the society around them – one that’s dripping with existential dread. “Yeah, no one’s coming to help you. Figure it out for yourselves” seems to be the lesson imparted. Grim stuff to attach to the joys of motherhood.

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