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Currently Playing: THE FERBERIZING OF CORAL | Omeleto

A baby won't sleep. Caitlin and Kevin are new parents to their infant daughter, Coral. They are trying to teach Coral to self-soothe at night, and the parents have settled in the living room with the baby monitor. But Coral cries loudly, wanting to be picked up like usual. Caitlin and Kevin are tempted to rush in to comfort their child but instead find themselves confronting each other and the baggage of their own parents. Directed and written by Patrick Flynn, who adapted the script from his own award-winning play, this witty, empathetic short comedy deftly captures the intricate anxieties of parenthood in an age where the demands of raising kids are more intensive than ever. Parenting isn't just about keeping a child sheltered and fed anymore. Now, parents are responsible for everything when it comes to their child's development, from their gut flora to their immune systems to their attachment style. Caitlin and Kevin are stepping into the fray by teaching their daughter Coral to sleep independently using the Ferber method, a sleep-training technique involving letting a baby cry for progressively longer periods before being picked up during bedtime. But as the narrative affectionately portrays, it's just as tough on the parents as it is on the baby. Essentially a two-hander set in a single location, the narrative is an argument that develops as Caitlin and Kevin grapple with Coral's first night of sleep training. Coral cries; the parents alternate between wanting to rush in to comfort her and standing firm by sticking with the method. As they vacillate, they argue in a way recognizable to many parents out there, where communication comes out as frayed as the sleep-deprived nerves of the parents. The often brilliant dialogue is smart and funny, but above all, it's authentic, grounded in the emotional truth of the parents, who only want the best for their child but are so overwhelmed by the dictums and choices of parenting that they're at times paralyzed. Part of the overwhelm is how their own parents' voices chime in during their internal dialogues as well as their anxieties over how their present choices will affect the future Coral. These past and present anxieties are dramatized in the storytelling through outlandish, slightly surreal and often hilarious moments. It's very funny, but it gets at a truth in parenting, in that how we parent is often a reflection and reaction against how we were raised in the past or a bulwark against the future. As Caitlin and Kevin, actors Mitzi Akaha and Theo Stockman adroitly play this push-pull of past and future worries, not to mention the sleep-deprived exhaustion of being new parents. But as Coral cries and they confront a perfect, funny storm of realization, the parents arrive at an inflection point, one that helps them shed the past and make peace with a future they can't control. This brings them to the beautiful, hilarious and deeply empathetic central truth of THE FERBERIZING OF CORAL: no one really knows how to parent, despite the overabundance of information, methods, techniques, mindsets, books, gurus and the like. Parents try their hardest and hope for the best. Sometimes, they even arrive at the present: those moments when they're fully alive to the miracle of love and tenderness in their lives, sleeping peacefully in the crib. Enjoy it while it lasts -- because it won't last long until you're onto the next challenge, hopefully met with a little more confidence and wisdom. THE FERBERIZING OF CORAL. Courtesy of Patrick Flynn at https://unknownpenguin.com.