Written by orange• April 11, 2022• 12:49 am• Review, The Chance Theater, Theater, Uncategorized

Orange County Premiere of Cry It Out @ Chance Theater – Review

Written by Patrick Chavis

(Photos by Camryn Long)

The Orange County Premiere of Cry It Out is now playing at the Chance Theatre in Anaheim Hills. This play is a dramatic comedy about new mothers dealing with the struggles of motherhood in modern times. It’s set in 2019 and somewhere in Port Washington, Long Island. Chance Theater’s production of Cry It Out is incredibly entertaining, comedic, and serious. It is a beautifully cathartic telling of three different women living very close to each other but with very different lives.

Set

What a gorgeous set. It looks like a very lovely, comfortable backyard with real-looking grass. There’s a section with a hard stone floor patio. There is a rustic-looking wooden fence in the back and a small toy slide to let us know kids live here. In the background is a lit painting of a suburban-looking townhome community. This artwork, and that’s what it is, was created by the Scenic Designer Bruce Goodrich and Scenic Painters Arthur Wilson, Sheldon Gantt, and Kylie Baumbusch.

Direction

The pacing, and when I’m talking about the pacing I’m talking about the direction and the acting in combination, was phenomenal. You are thrown right into these people’s lives from the start to the end of this show. Elina de Santos’s direction of the actors felt so natural to me. I was able to enjoy the constant transitions from the jokes to the more serious material in the show.

Acting

The whole cast is fantastic. Not a weak link in the show, but what sells it for me was the relationship on stage between Aubrey Saverino, who plays Jessie, and Amanda Zarr, who plays Lina. Their conversations and how they talked to each other during the show demonstrate what a good friendship looks like in practice. The other two husband and wife supporting characters, Adrienne, played by Angel Duapias, and Mitchell, played by Seyto James, are a good counterpoint for Jessie and Lina.

I would have loved to see the two characters of Mitchell and Adrienne interact on stage, but I understand it wasn’t the show’s focus.

This is a mature show with mature language. I would not recommend this for kids. I think this is an excellent put-together performance that is fully realized through great direction and cast.

April 1 – May 1, 2022