The Cake @ Theatre Arlington
Photos by Jacob Oderberg
—Review by Jan Farrington
Shannon McGrann can do just about anything on a stage. I haven’t seen her try handstands, I’ll admit, but short of that….In Bekah Brunstetter’s The Cake at Theatre Arlington, she turns the trope of the “sweet little Southern lady with rigid views” right on its head, and gives us a woman worth listening to…even if we might not agree with her.
The Cake is a loose riff on a news story from about five years back, about a baker who refused to make the wedding cake for a gay couple. (It went to the Supreme Court, and a follow-up case is coming soon.) Playwright Brunstetter was for several years a writer and producer for the TV series This is Us, and grew up in North Carolina, where the play is set. So we know two things: she’s tuned in to the dramatic possibilities of ordinary life, and she knows the South. Both those skill sets bring this play vividly alive.
Baker Della Brady (McGrann) runs a sweet shop in her small home town, and is married to plumber Tim (Rodney Honeycutt). They’re devoted churchgoers with a steady marriage that feels…flat? Della’s dream is to become a star on the “Great American Baking Show,” and she’s actually in the running for a spot in the next competition. (She’s crazy about British-accented TV judge George, voiced by Thomas Magee, who becomes more and more “judgy” as the play moves along.)
McGrann’s lightly worn accent is perfect—not the dreaded “cornpone” at all—and her Della is natural, funny, and increasingly honest. In her neatly ordered world, push comes to shove when young Jen (Olivia Cinquepalmi), the daughter of Della’s late best friend, turns up to announce her wedding to a Northern Black woman named Macy (Sasha Maya Ada). And the wedding wouldn’t be right without Della’s signature pink lemonade cake, Jen’s mother’s favorite.
You can guess the rest of the story on Della’s face—but there are some surprises. I’m not going to say much more about the plot, because you need to see the show. With thoughtful direction from Steven D. Morris (TA’s artistic head), this really fine cast pulls us heart-first into the story, and holds on tight. During intermission, I realized I was actually angsting about the fictional Della, Tim, Jen, and Macy. Would things work out for them—and how?
Director Morris says in his notes that he fell in love with The Cake when Uptown Players produced it in Dallas a few years ago—with McGrann playing Della—and thought “more people need to see this.” Kudos to him, and to Brunstetter’s smart script, for creating characters of depth: Jen tells Macy (who is Black) that she always feels “of two minds”—caught between what she was taught growing up, and what she’s learned living in Brooklyn. Cinquepalmi is warm, jittery, loving in the performance.
As Macy, Ada keeps her love for Jen front and center, and (without giving up her strength and ideals) takes just enough edge off the character to let us see her warm spirit. Macy loves the things Jen is that she is not: her giving nature, her gentleness with people, her quick-changing emotions. It’s clear the playwright is best at writing women: husband Tim is a bit utilitarian, but Honeycutt does well in both cold and warm moments. And there’s an “oh, my” scene that gives him a bit of comedy to bring off—and he brings it.
Set designer Kevin Brown (aided by scenic artist Angie Glover) uses both sides of the new TA turntable: one for “Della’s Sweets,” the pinkest, sparkliest place you’ll see out of a Disney princess story, and the other for two bedrooms where Important Conversations happen. Colin Wintersole’s effective lighting helps set the tone of each scene, and Karen Potter’s costumes are pretty perfect for these distinct characters.
As the story moves along, Della finds things in her faith, and in her heart, that let her come at some parts of her life differently. Not everything. There are still lines she won’t cross. But we are closer to understanding her by the end—closer to all the characters—whether or not we’ve shifted our own viewpoints.
I’ve known a great many Dellas over a lifetime, and chances are you may feel the same. And I think we recognize the Dellas who work from the love in their hearts…from the Dellas who don’t. Even when we disagree with them, quietly or noisily, the small acts of grace they spread around them (like a trail of cake crumbs) tell us who they are, and make life a little bit sweeter.
WHEN: Through October 16
WHERE: Theatre Arlington, Main Street
WEB: theatrearlington.org
