“Cry It Out”

**** There are a great number of people who are unfamiliar with a very intimate space in the North Shore where theater has been thriving for many years. The theater is names Oil Lamp and is located in Glenview.  I believe there are 66 seats in this space which might make it THE most intimate of theaters in the area. This is a true “storefront” that in reality is two stores- one is the actual theater and the other is where the bathrooms and lobby are located along with a bar and snacks. They used to be a BYO, but now they are a cash bar with pretty much anything you might desire.

Due to my crazy schedule, I ended up attending a preview performance today, and many of you know that the word “preview” only means that they are running the regular play but thye might still be changing some lighting or sound cues, or they could be making minor changes. I will tell you from an audience members view, the production of “Cry It Out”, Molly Smith Metzler’s play about parenting, was a sheer delight to watch.

Director Whitney Minarik has assembled a perfect cast of players to bring Metzler’s characters to life, and her use of the small stage with a wonderful set by Ellen Marcus is ideal allowing perfect sight lines for this production.

The story is about two young mothers to begin. Jessie (sharply played by Jocelyn Maher) an atorney and Lina ( played to perfection by Cait Kelly, who has a great sense of comic timing) a nurse who share a backyard and find each other every day to do coffee and talk to each other about their lives and babies. Watching these two actresses do their thing is as real as I have ever seen. I have seen two productions of this play in much larger venues over the years, but never felt like the proverbial “fly-on-the-wall” until watching this production. I must tell you that in previous versions, the play was 90 minutes-no intermission. Oil Lamp decided to break the show and add an intermission so that their regulars would not have comfort problems. It worked!

During one of the late scenes in the first act, the ladies are visited by Mitchell ( JJ Gatesman) who lives in a mansion that overlooks the back yard and his wife, Adrienne ( deftly handled by Caroline Kidwell) also has just given birth, but is alone  and he feels she should be a part of this afternoon coffee meet. Line is against it, but Jessie feels that if they can help a fellow mother, why not?

What takes place over the next scenes is more sad than comical ( the play has a lot of comic touches) as we look deep into why some parents are better equipped to handle parenthood than others. As a parent who ended up raising one child pretty much on my own, I saw a great number of things in this play that struck home. I think you will as well. This is a solid cast, well directed and just right for the intimate stage at Oil Lamp.

The tech was perfect as well. Hannah Wein (lighting), Janelle Smith (costumes) and Ellen Marcus ( props).

“Cry It Out” will continue through March 3rd with performances as follows: