LAFPI

The Echo Theater Company presents a hilarious and deeply moving “comedy with dark edges” that 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. Lindsay Allbaugh directs the West Coast premiere of Cry It Out by Molly Smith Metzler.

Three months ago, new mom Jessie Gelb (Jackie Chung — Caught at Downtown LA’s ThinkTank Factory, Tiger Style! at La Jolla Playhouse, Fast Company at SCR) was a corporate lawyer with a glamorous Manhattan life; today, she’s living in a Long Island suburb, wearing dirty yoga pants and covered in breast milk. Thrilled to discover that her next-door neighbor also has a newborn, Jessie invites the funny and forthright Lina (Megan Ketch — American Gothic; recurring on Jane the Virgin, The Good Wife, Blue Bloods) for coffee in their adjoining yards. A fast friendship is born — but their intimacy is punctured when a stranger who lives in the mansion on the cliff above (Brian Henderson, recently seen in House in Scarsdale at Boston Court) shows up with a request: his wife (Emily Swallow) is having a “hard time” as a new mother. Could they include her in their coffee klatch?

The Echo’s creative team includes set designer François-Pierre Couture, lighting designer Rose Malone, sound designer Jeff Gardner, costume designer Ann Closs-Farley and graphic designer Christopher Komuro. The assistant director is Molly Kauffman, and the production stage manager is Venice Yue Yang. Chris Fields and Rachael Zambias produce for the Echo Theater Company.

Cry It Out opens on Saturday, July 14, with performances continuing on Fridays and Saturdays at 8 p.m.; Sundays at 4 p.m.; and Mondays at 8 p.m. through Aug. 19. The 4 p.m. performance on July 22 has been designated “Child Care Sunday” — Echo Theater Company will provide free child care for parents attending that performance.

Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039. On-site parking is free. For reservations and information, call (310) 307-3753 or go to www.EchoTheaterCompany.com.

Visit us on facebook: www.facebook.com/echotheater
Follow us on twitter: @echotheater