Simpatico Theatre Partners With Parent Artist Advocacy League For Philadelphia Premiere Of CRY IT OUT

Simpatico Theatre Company closes their "Season of System Failures" with the regional premiere of a new play that explores the effect that class has on parenthood in America. Molly Smith Metzler's CRY IT OUT will perform at The Louis Bluver Theatre at The Drake (302 S. Hicks Street, Philadelphia, PA) from June 5 to June 23, 2019. Simpatico will partner with PAAL, the Parent Artist Advocacy League, during this production to offer a variety of family-friendly opportunities for artists and audiences that focus on the working parent. Opening night for press is Friday, June 7 at 8PM.

A comedy with dark edges, CRY IT OUT takes an honest look at the power of female friendship, the dilemma of going back to work after an absurdly short maternity leave, and the effect class has on parenthood in America. Jessie is a corporate lawyer with a glamorous Manhattan life. 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 naptime coffee dates. 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.

Simpatico will partner with PAAL (Parent Artist Advocacy League) during this production to create a family friendly rehearsal schedule and child-care opportunities for artists and audiences in order to focus on the working parent/artist, such as PNC Parents' Day Out on Father's Day, June 16. PAAL aims to educate performing arts employers against mother and father discrimination and empowers women and men to live boldly in their expanded family life choices with reduced negative consequences. CRY IT OUT Director Tamanya M. M. Garza understands the role that parenthood plays in the creation of art.

"As an artist, I let parenting open new doors and help me close some that weren't helping me grow," said Garza. "I am more patient now and my choices are more specific, more daring because after I had a baby I knew exactly how strong I was and it made it so much easier to let go of my fears. I also found this beautiful community of people who are extraordinarily dedicated to their craft, radical empathy, and each other now that I am a mom. I am a more vibrant and thoughtful artist now because the support of other parent-artists has been so overwhelming and so profound."

The cast of Simpatico's CRY IT OUT features Angelica Jackson-Thomas, Brandi Burgess, Anita Holland, and Newton Buchanan.. All performances of the play are "Pay What You Decide" after the show. Audience members can make a reservation online to see the show and after the performance, they can decide what that experience was worth to them. Simpatico is following in the footsteps of Azuka Theatre and throwing open their doors to everyone in the greater Philadelphia community by removing the financial barriers to attending the theatre.

For more information, or to make reservations, visit https://www.simpaticotheatre.org/cry-it-out.

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