Hartford Stage, Hartford, CT
through November 17, 2019
by Tim O’Brien
 |
| Photo by T. Charles Erikson |
Playwright Molly Metzler Smith’s work is as much about class
and privilege in America as parenthood itself. Healthcare worker Lina and her
unseen partner John are decidedly lower-class, hanging on in the duplex largely
due to the fiscal largesse of John’s meddling and possibly alcoholic mother
(dubbed “The Beast”). Middle-class attorney Jessie and husband Nate are
comfortable; his monied parents urge them to buy a Montauk cottage while she
wrestles with telling her mate she doesn’t want to return to work.
Enter Mitchell, upscale neighbor from the wealthier side of
town. His jewelry-designer wife Adrienne seems to be having difficulty
connecting with their own new bundle of joy.
The performances are strong across the small cast, Evelyn
Spahr’s Lina is brash, plain-spoken and gets most of the early punch lines.
Rachel Spencer Hewitt’s Jessie is sweetly filled with self-reproach. Erin Gahn
plays Mitchell with good-natured earnestness and a dose of Steve Carell. But it
is Caroline Kinsolving who stands out as Adrienne. While logging the least
actual stage time, her turns are the most dramatic and thought-provoking.
It is sometimes a struggle watching Rachel Alderman’s
direction; she moves her actors around the simple (and well-executed by
designer Kristen Robinson; it actually rains!) round stage with blocking that
at times seems clearly forced, plus postures that are overwrought. A bit more
restraint might go a long way. However, this is the first week of the run, and
there is lots of time to think about any changes, or not.
Smith’s script, while nothing we haven’t seen or heard
before in endless TV sitcoms about smelly diapers and lack of sleep, produces
plenty of laughs from a house that had likely been-there done-that.
“Cry It Out” is ripe with comedy with some unexpected sharp
twists, and it certainly pleased this opening night audience.
