Renaissance Theatreworks Serves up a Complicated "Cake"
Renaissance Theaterworks opened their first post-pandemic production, The Cake, in their new home, The Next Act Theater — just down the street from their old digs at the Broadway Theatre Center. To welcome audiences back to in-person performances they are serving up a buttercream frosting-filled family drama with a ripped-from-the-headlines twist. Directed by RTW’s Artistic Director Suzan Fete, it’s a well paced look at chosen family members who love, but can’t understand one another.
The Cake, by Bekah Brunstetter, is loosely based on an incident that made headlines in 2012, when a bakery in Colorado refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple. Eventually the parties sued, taking it all the way to the Supreme Court. The high court ruled that the baker was within his rights to refuse to serve customers, based on his religious views that homosexuality was a sin, and therefore not something that he wanted to celebrate.
Like a lot of issues in this country, this is a topic that feels very black and white; it pits the religious right against the liberal “woke” and these days there is very little gray area. It’s admirable, then, that playwright Brunstetter decided to delve into this simple story and complicate it with real, likable characters on both sides who are genuinely grappling with how to respond.
Among a myriad of complications that Brunstetter throws into the batter, the most compelling and interesting relationship in the play is between Della (Tara Mallen), a kind-hearted baker with her own sweet shop south of the Mason Dixon line, and her goddaughter Jen (April Paul), a local girl who left home and moved to New York. Queen of her idyllic turquoise and pink bakery (brought to life through amazing set design by Steve Barnes) Della is surrounded by a dozen gorgeous sample cakes on display and insulated from anything unpleasant by cream cheese icing. She is presented initially as a sunny Southern woman of simple ideas; follow the directions on recipes, do what your husband tells you, rely on tradition, and make people happy through baked goods.
But when Jen comes back to town asking for a wedding cake for her same sex-marriage, simple answers don’t satisfy. Della is not just surprised and conflicted by the request, she’s heartbroken that she can’t support her goddaughter on her special day. As Della’s nervous laughter turns to deep worry lines on her face, what seemed like an easy issue becomes a puzzle she can’t solve. Mallen is simply terrific in this role, which she has played previously with her company Rivendell in Chicago. Whisking platters of cake and frosting around the stage, she combines an easy presence with authentic insight into Della, making it very easy to like her even if you disagree with her politics.
As much as Della frets about the issue that has come between them, Jen, played with fragile optimism by Paul, is also conflicted. She clearly loves her godmother. And there is much about her Southern upbringing that she cherishes -- even more than nuggets from Chick-fil-a and houses with big backyards and lots of counter space that she could never afford back in Brooklyn. She also has the specter of her dead mother hanging over her head -- the big wedding in her hometown was mom’s final wish for Jen.
In addition to these two characters struggling with the familial love they feel for each other and the ideological, religious issues that get in the way, these women both share a desperation to be loved by their partners. Jen knows that Macy (a strident Courtney Marie Tucker) is her path to happiness, even if she is prickly and overly judgmental of everything in her fiancee’s hometown.
At the same time, Della despairs of her relationship with her husband Tim (an amusing Sam White), a salt-of-the earth, Southern-boy plumber, who likes cuddling up in front of the TV, and really likes her cooking, but hasn’t shown much interest in bed.
In between hand-wringing and political grandstanding, the play takes several delightful detours from reality, as Della imagines what it will be like to be on a baking reality show, hosted by a British silver fox George, a la Paul Hollywood. Her fantasies range from sexy romps to anxiety dreams to public recrimination for her choices as Della’s subconscious puts her through the wringer. As the unseen baking judge, Michael Pink does some nice character work as Della’s best and worst nightmares combined.
If the play had concentrated more on Della and Jen’s relationship, it would be a stronger piece. Instead it throws in a kitchen sink full of backstories, bad behavior, catharsis and tears that crowd the play with narratives until it’s hard to remember who the protagonist is. Macy’s character in particular feels overstuffed with condescending righteousness and tangential pathos. A pair of comic moments about reigniting Della and Tim’s love life are deliciously over-the-top, but they feel tacked on, much as Della’s speech about becoming more independent and assertive feels like a flashback to the movie “Fried Green Tomatoes.”
As Della tells us in the first scene of the play, for the most delicious baked goods she uses a combination of simple recipes and only the best ingredients. Brunstetter should had taken her character’s advice.