A Challenging Play for MMT

Moving "The Cake" from Mill Mountain Theatre's alternative stage to the main stage was a really good idea, even though it was made necessary by Covid fears. This Beka Brunstetter play kicked off MMT's Friends of the Fringe series for this year and the main stage let it breathe, allowed its 90 minutes of tragi-comedy to sink in and allowed us to feel it.

This is an extraordinarily worthwhile play that might not get the audience it deserves in a smaller, more limited venue. "The Cake" echoes a theme that we all know: a lesbian couple asks a bake-shop owner (an old friend of the family, in this case) to make a special cake for the couple's wedding, which is getting closer fast. Della, the owner of Della's Sweets, is an unquestioning right-wing Christian who is strictly opposed to rights for the non-traditional. 

That one of the brides is a long-time family friend causes Della to think hard and long on her position and also has her re-thinking other accepted norms of her religious traditions. 

This story is based in Winston-Salem, N.C., instead of Colorado where the famous case six years ago actually occurred (and went to the Supreme Court). The young women who want to marry travel to Winston because one grew up there. Of course, her betrothed, who is from New York, finds culture shock in the South. A lot of soul-searching for everybody follows.

The cast is quite good here and includes three MMT veterans, Amy Baldwin (who shone as Della, owner of the bakery; her Southern accent was spot-on), Cherise James and J. Richey Nash and MMT newcomer Merrill Peiffer. MMT newcomer Kerrie Seymour delicately directs this sometimes laugh-out-loud funny, sometimes verbally vulgar offering that will stick with you. 

If strong language, sexuality and Christianity in a less than a  reverential treatment offends you, by all means skip this one ... unless you want to open your mind for a bit.

It is a good play, which runs through March 6. Tickets are available at 540-342-5740.