ROBIN'S SHOW REVIEW: Cradle and All

Manhattan Theatre Club's new show Cradle And All seeks to answer the age old question "TO BREED OR NOT TO BREED?"

Annie and Nate have a baby who won't sleep. Claire and Luke are losing sleep over the decision to get married and start a family. In adjacent Brooklyn Heights apartments, playwright Daniel Goldfarb's (Sarah, Sarah; Modern Orthodox) newest look at love, sex, commitment and parenthood unfolds.

Tony nominee Maria Dizzia (In the Next Room) and Greg Keller (Uncle Vanya) star as both couples in this world premiere production, directed by Tony nominee Sam Buntrock (Sunday in the Park with George).

Dizzia and Keller have a good chemistry and are very appealing in their respective roles.  Dizzia brought to mind a bit of actress Mary Louise Parker who I have long admired on stage and television.

The format of the show is clever. Act I features Dizzia as 40 something "cougar" aspiring mom Claire with a high consciousness of embarking on her fourth decade of life yearning for more. She admits to her 34 year old live-in love, Luke, of five years, that back in her 20s, she had an abortion when she opted for a film part over parenthood with her old boyfriend Raul.  Since then, her career as an actress has not taken off as she  hoped, and she longs anxiously for a child. Luke, taken aback by this confession, does some sharing, including wanting to make it on his own professionally.  Clearly they are not on the same page, and you're left not quite sure what transpires with them as a couple.

During the course of Act I, Nate (a neighbor in their building) with an 11 month old crying child Olivia, knocks on their door to borrow an egg.  In Act II, we meet Nate, an actor whose career is less than stellar at the moment, and his wife Annie, a stay at home mom, who are caught up in the challenging throes of parenting, missing how things used to be. They spend a long, torturous evening (Nate's attempt at stress relief is baking his famous chocolate chunk cookies, using the borrowed egg), as they are guided on the computer by an expert hired to teach them to enable their screeching daughter to sleep on her own.  Each experiences their share of frustration, and sex becomes an ultimate topic of discussion, as they attempt to rekindle their pre-parenthood passion.

Each Act features an actor whose career is not what it could be, and the line "I will be really hurt and upset if you walk away right now," establishing the parallel between the couples. Act II was the more entertaining of the two, offering both wit and insight.

There are no great relevations in the tales, but you will relate, whether you are contemplating parenthood or adjusting to it.  And, it makes for a validating girls night out with moms of  young children who will appreciate the break from their parenting routine and no doubt recognize the sentiments and humor captured with dead on candor by Goldfarb. 

DISCOUNT TICKET OFFER
Where: City Center, 131 W 55th Street, betweeh 6th and 7th Avenues, NYC

To get discounted $60 tix:
Visit NYCITYCENTER.ORG and use code 7554 or call CityTix at 212-581-1212 and use code CRA

When:  The show runs through June 19th.  Tues at 7 pm, Wed-Sat at 8 pm, Wed, Sat and Sun at 2 pm

Week 39....Beyond Ready...by Liimu

So, this is it. My last post before the newest McGill makes his appearance in the world. I have to admit, there is a part of me that is more excited about not being pregnant anymore than anything else. Don't get me wrong, I cannot WAIT to meet my son, and I'm sure that will overshadow all else as soon as he gets here, but right now, with the numbness in my hands and feet, the swelling everywhere including my face, the heartburn and the wheezing, I just feel like a hot, hot mess. I'm just ready to be on the other side of the peak of pregnancy discomfort, on the road to recovery and back to my sassy self. That's part two of this journey readers, coming back to myself - better than before.

The other thing I wanted to talk about - in the context of being beyond ready - is a little Aha moment my husband and I had with our eight year old. We thought we were ready, she and I. I bragged to friends about how she had decided to move into the baby's room because she wanted to be there to help in the middle of the night. "No backsies!" I joked. And a joke it was because she was terrified to be in her own room after having had someone in her room since her younger sister was born just 16 months after her. So, this week, we blew up the air mattress and put it on the floor of her old room, now her sisters' room, and that is where she will sleep until she's feeling brave enough to try again.

My husband was torn and inclined to tell her to suck it up. But I have been terrified of the bumps in the night, and I know that there are times you need to suck it up and times you need to change the situation to address the fear. Because she wasn't wanting to sleep with us, her sisters wanted her in the room with them, and she is generally a sweet and adaptable young lady, I fought hard for her to get to change her mind and go back to the safety and security of sleeping with her sisters. So far, so good. We thought we were ready before. Now, we are beyond ready. We are ready to admit mistakes and learn from them, and that (I have found) is the most important factor in really being ready for parenthood. Because the only thing I have found that I knew for sure each time I had a child was that nothing at all is certain.