When a person becomes a parent, it is natural and healthy for them to want to give their child the world. The Chance Theatre’s new production of “Cry It Out,” — written by Molly Smith Metzler, screenwriter behind the Netflix series “Maid,” and directed by Elina de Santos — deals with the many reasons why this idealized parenthood perfection is not always possible.

Metzler’s inspiration for writing the play came when she began her own motherhood journey and moved from Brooklyn to Port Washington, N.Y., when pregnant so her husband could take a teaching job. Seemingly overnight her world went from the hustle and bustle of a busy playwright in the city to being isolated with a newborn in winter desperate for a mom friend. She says she wrote about a “very specific time frame of maternity leave and what a vortex of confusion and insecurity and mind-breaking love that you are going through during that period.”

As a mother of a now 3-year-old, Aubrey Saverino who plays Jessie, relates to this role on a personal level. Metzler’s writing “just gets motherhood so well, and all of the highs and lows, it is so easy for me to relate,” she says, adding that motherhood is “without question the best times in my life and sometimes the hardest.”

Elina de Santos is the director of “Cry It Out” at Chance Theater in Anaheim. (Courtesy of the Chance Theater)

Director Elina de Santos fell in love with the play because the most important job she’s had in her life was raising her children.

“Motherhood has shaped my life,” she said, adding that it is important to present this play now.

“We need life-giving stories,” she said. “We need things that tell us that life goes on. There are mothers who are fighting for their children in Ukraine now. There are mothers who are crossing the border because they want to give their children a life. Mothers who stayed home during the pandemic because they had to protect their children.”

Saverino agrees that this is a perfect time to tell this story “as a parent who has gone through two years of the strain and stress of the pandemic.” She says the play “touches on these quiet struggles” of parenthood “which in a lot of ways were heightened during the pandemic when parents across the country lost access to childcare.”

Metzler says she wrote the play because she found “early motherhood/maternity to be profoundly lonely and I wondered how many people out there also found it profoundly lonely. There wasn’t a movie or a play that really captured the experience and so I wanted to write that to reach people who might be going through it.”

Molly Smith Metzler, a playwright, screenwriter (“Shameless,” “Orange is the New Black”) and creator of the Netflix limited series “Maid,” is the author of “Cry It Out,” a comedy about the travails of parenthood, which plays at Chance Theater in Anaheim in April. (Photo by Sela Shiloni)

Besides creating “Maid,” Metzler has also written for the TV series “Shameless” and “Orange is the New Black.” Orange County audiences may recall her previous theatrical work “Elemeno Pea,” which was produced in 2012 at South Coast Repertory, where she is a commissioned playwright.

Many of the challenges that both the characters in “Cry It Out” and new parents everywhere face are rooted in socioeconomics. This untold aspect of parenthood fueled Metzler to write this play to get people to talk openly about it.

“It’s such an economic change when you become a mother,” she said. “People don’t talk about it. We are not honest about it. We don’t take care of new parents in this country. We don’t have maternity leave policies. I was stunned by how unfair that was.”

Saverino believes the play asks important questions of society such as: “How do we help parents? How do we make sure that no one is left struggling on their own? Don’t we want all children to be able to go to safe and affordable childcare? That seems like a basic right to me.”

Aubrey Saverino as Jessie and Seyto James as Mitchell rehearse a scene for “Cry It Out,” a comedy about new parents that plays at the Chance Theater in Anaheim from April 1 through May 1. (Courtesy of Chance Theater)

Society’s views on parental gender roles are also addressed in this production.

“Society puts a lot of pressure on both genders in different ways,” Savarino said. “People who identify as mothers really feel this sense that it is 100% my responsibility and I will be judged if I am not doing it exactly right.”

Metzler agrees. “It’s not that there are not fantastic dads because there are” but that caring for a child “is often a defaulted to the woman problem.”

When Metzler started to write the play the first character that came to her was the only father seen on stage, Mitchell.

“It was important that he was in the play. It would have been a really missed opportunity to not have his experience as a dad be an intricate part of the show.”

Metzler, Saverino, and de Santos all believe this play is meant for everyone and should not be labeled as a show jut for women.

“It’s not a play about women,” Metzler says. “It’s a play, in a lot of ways, about marriage and parenthood. I encourage men to see this play. It’s funny, half of the fan notes I get are from men saying how much they felt ‘seen’ by the play.”

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Saverino says humor is still the play’s bottom line.

“It’s a very funny show,” she says. “It touches on a lot of important issues about parenthood. People will love these characters and relate to all four of them in different ways. I hope most importantly people walk away with a little more empathy and compassion for any parent or parent to be out there who is struggling.”

“It’s funny because it’s recognizable,” adds de Santos. “You will see yourself and see people you know. There’s a little pathos but there’s so much that you will relate to.”

‘Cry It Out’

When: Previews April 1-8; 8 p.m. Friday-Saturday, 7 p.m. Sunday. Regular performances April 9-May 1; 8 p.m. Fridays, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturdays, 3 p.m. Sundays

Where: Chance Theater, 5522 E. La Palma Ave., Anaheim

Tickets: $20-$39

Information: 888-455-4212 or chancetheater.com

COVID-19 protocols: All patrons must wear masks while indoors for all performances. Certain performances are designated Vaccinated+ and for those shows, audience members must present proof of full vaccination (booster not required).