"The Cake" at Theatre in the Round

Once again, Theatre in the Round is bringing us a regional premiere of a new and very relevant play. Just a few weeks after closing How to Catch Creation, about Black artists now and in the past, they opened The Cake, about a conservative Southern baker forced to confront her beliefs when they contradict her heart. Written in 2017 by playwright and screenwriter (including for a little show called This is Us) Bekah Brunstetter, the play speaks directly to the divided and divisive world that we live in, that has only gotten more extreme in this second iteration of the current administration. The play is not preachy, the characters feel like real and complex characters instead of mere caricatures, and the conversations had are awkward and necessary. It's sweet and funny and spicy, and in the end provides hope that maybe we can overcome our differences if we're willing to have tough conversations, and look past our differences to find our shared humanity. The Cake plays weekends through March 15 at the oldest theater in Minneapolis, and if all the talk about cake gives you a craving for it, you may be rewarded.

The majority of the play takes place in Della's bakery in North Carolina, where she makes cakes for special occasions and is preparing to be on The Big American Bakeoff (a fictional show, but if it were real I'd totally watch it). Into her safe little world enters Jen, her best friend's daughter, and her fiancée Macy. Most of Jen's family has moved away, but since her mother's death she feels a real connection to this place, and wants to get married there. She asks Della to make her wedding cake, but Della is stuck in a belief system that tells her same sex marriage is wrong, so she tells Jen she's too busy. Jen is disappointed but accepts this; she has a foot in both worlds and understands it, but Macy is upset to see Jen rejected in this way by someone she loves. But it's not an easy decision for Della, she's heartbroken and conflicted, and the interaction with Jen and Macy forces her to examine her life and her relationship with her husband Tim, which isn't what she wants it to be. There is some really beautiful character growth as Della is changed forever by meeting these two women so confident in their love for each other, Tim (eventually) hears his wife and makes an effort to improve their relationship, Jen grapples with some deep-seeded beliefs that no longer serve her, and Macy begins to see that not everything is as black and white as she thought.

Jen (Via Logan) and Della (Jenny Ramirez)
(photo courtesy of Theatre in the Round)

Director Jennie Ward brings out all the humor and humanity in the script, with the help of this talented cast. Jenny Ramirez is really the heart of the show as Della, and makes you love and empathize with this character who could be seen as the villain. Via Logan and Natavia Lewis are both strong as Jen and Macy, respectively, believable as a couple and each showing the nuances of their character. D’aniel Stock has the tough job of playing the not-so-great husband, but also shows us there's more to this character than we first see. Rounding out the cast and providing some humor is Kjer Whiting as the host of the Bakeoff who visits Della in her imagination, playing both the angel and the devil on her shoulder.

To get to your seat at Theatre in the Round, you need to walk through the cake shop and see the sweet pink cake boxes in pink-trimmed display cases up close. The floor is tiled in white and pink to complete the adorable look. A few scenes take place in both couples' beds, which is neatly pulled out from a structure built into one of the entrances. The baking aspects are charmingly represented by fabric, as Della pulls a silk scarf out of a bowl she's "mixing," or struggles with fabric "dough" wrapped around her. A soundtrack of appropriate songs plays before the show and during scene transitions, and the costume design tells us who these characters are. (Scenic design by Keven Lock, lighting design by Todd M. Reemtsma, costume design by Emma Shook, prop design by PJ Graber, sound design by Jennie Ward.)

We all have people in our lives whom we love, but have beliefs contrary to our own. It's hard to know what to do in those situations - do you argue with them, not talk about it, or cut them out of your life entirely? The Cake shows us another way, but doesn't provide a simple solution. The road towards connection is bumpy and awkward and not linear, but sometimes it leads towards a delicious reward of cake.