Molly Smith Metzler’s Cry it Out explores the complex experience of being a working parent – an experience that can be both painful and joyful, but is always surprising. Many of the people working to bring the show to life bring their personal experiences of parenting to their work. Karin Graybash, the sound designer on Cry it Out, is one such working parent-artist. Below, she talks about her experiences with sound design and parenthood.

How, if at all, has the experience of parenthood affected the way you think about design and approach your work?

It has given me fewer inhibitions.  I get excited and experiment more now than I used to.  I am not as afraid to make mistakes, which really helps me to push outside my normal comfort level and try techniques or programs which are new to me.

Conversely, how has your experience as a designer and theatremaker influenced the way you parent?

As a sound designer, it is my job to pay attention to sounds and how sounds can enhance day-to-day experiences.  I tend to incorporate that into all aspects of my life, including parenting, and especially including playtime.  This can be a lot of fun and my 6-year-old has learned a great deal about acoustics.  But it has unfortunately backfired on me, too.  Now, whenever we enter a large echoey space, my daughter likes to yell out “Echo” as loud as she can to hear what it sounds like, which does not go over so well in a church. Somehow, my parenting brain just did not fully think that one through ahead of time.

Can you point to a particularly challenging or enlightening moment in your experience as a working parent-artist?

I don’t know that I can pinpoint just one.  I seem to have many moments such as the “echo” story.  I realize that I seem to be learning things about life just as much as my daughter is, which can either be joyful or frustrating depending on the timing.