Arts

The Cake needs more time in the oven

by Jules Becker
Friday Jan 17, 2020

This article is from the January 16, 2020 issue of South End News.


Karen MacDonald, Chelsea Diehl, Kris Sidberry in "The Cake" (photo:Mark S. Howard)
Karen MacDonald, Chelsea Diehl, Kris Sidberry in "The Cake" (photo:Mark S. Howard)  

Is baking an art? Certainly legends like Jacques Pepin and the late great Julia Child would wholeheartedly say that it is. Perhaps Della, the fictional practitioner in the Bekah Brunstetter play "The Cake"—now in its Boston debut at the Lyric Stage Company of Boston—would agree. The owner of Della's Sweets— well-detailed and vividly designed by Matt Whiton—would certainly insist that any novice baker make sure to use all of the ingredients as she does and "follow the directions."
Much as there are several fine elements in director Courtney O'Connor well-mixed Lyric Stage effort, the lesbian couple's wedding cake-centered play needs a stronger consistency and more to say about the intersection of love and understanding with that baking.
Inspired by a case involving a baker's unwillingness to create such a wedding cake, Brunstetter ("This Is Us")'s 2015 play rightly presents its four characters—the couple Jen and Macy and Della and her plumber husband Tim—as characters rather than types. Della in particular possesses a degree of unaffected charm that sometimes offsets her Christian fundamentalism-based bigotry. Speaking about her showcased Noah's Ark cake, she points to what she claims are dinosaurs. She also naively believes that her confection could conquer ISIS where armies and governments struggle to do so. Meanwhile she hopes to win the Great American Bake Off and amaze its (heard but unseen) handsome host (think of his counterpart on the Great British Baking Show).
Ultimately, though, Della's greatest challenge is what to do about the cake that Jen—the daughter of her best friend—would like for her upcoming wedding to African-American Macy. While the gregarious baker claims "I don't see color," she unequivocally does have a serious problem with sexual orientation as does Tim—who admits he "can't pick and choose Bible" when it comes to laws about gays. At this point, an allusion in the play to Sodom and Gomorra would have done well to bring in the cities' clear hatred of strangers as a factor as striking as the usual homophobia explanation.
Brunstetter does provide balance with considerable dialogue about both Jen's complicated family dynamics and Macy's back story. As the wedding day approaches, though, the plotting and Della's decision-making seem less convincing. Is Della really open to change? Does Tim's surprise for Della constitute genuine quid pro quo or a predictable device? Notwithstanding cake, can there be a real understanding between Della and Meg if the later fears that the former hates her? These questions are likely to prove nagging for some theatergoers.
Under director O'Connor's careful guidance, there should be no question that the pacing is sharp and the cast first-rate. Karen MacDonald—always one of the Hub's premier actresses—is a true standout. In body language and accent as well as a blend of family caring and cluelessness, she proves commandingly watchable as a kind of flawed Everywoman. Fred Silverman, Jr. has all of Tim's judgmental posture and coarseness. As master performers, they improve upon the couple's otherwise somewhat conventional bedroom scenes. Chelsea Diehl captures Jen's heart as well as her frustrations. Kris Sidberry finds all of Macy's fire and feeling. Diehl and Sidberry have all the naturalness of soon-to-be newlyweds.
Near the end of the play, Della quotes the First Corinthians observation that "Love is always hard." In that light, "The Cake" needs stronger texture and more satisfying attention to the love the title confection represents.