The Cake NYC Reviews and Tickets
Member Reviews (149)
See it if A funny show that is a little corky and has some good moments. Not very political.
Don't see it if If you want a very strong written play. If you want a big production.
See it if You like plays that help you see topics from other people’s point of view. No one is portrayed as the villain or the victim here.
Don't see it if You’re afraid to look at your own culpability in a recent news topic that most of us took a side in without knowing very many facts. Read more
See it if Bible Belt lady baker gets a visit from her friend’s daughter & lesbian fiancee. Can she accept them? Good characters, acting & production.
Don't see it if The theme seems cliched already, even though the Supreme Court decision is just 4 years old. Still, it’s well done and held my interest.
See it if you enjoy quirky characters whose interactions sometimes lead to hilarious moments.
Don't see it if you want a full out comedy or cutting edge issues. While the script attempts to offer both it is not totally successful with either.
See it if u want to see a play about acceptance, "sanctity" of marriage, identity, morality & tolerance w/o any politicization, provocation or punch.
Don't see it if u hope for a Cake u can to sink ur teeth into. [There are too many storylines, plot holes, flavorless characters & unconvincing arguments.] Read more
See it if Debra Jo Rupp is sympathtic, wonderful, likable, plays her role with sensitivity & humor; terrific sets & relevant story. Good 4 person cast
Don't see it if you are not open to conflicting views on gay marriage. This is done with humor/love where people hear & learn from each other.
See it if you want a lighthearted look at homophobia.Despite ourselves we love the woman who refuses to bake the cake for a gay wedding.
Don't see it if you want a black&white solution to a rainbow issue.We end up admiring her for standing up for her principles even when it breaks her heart
See it if you want to see a well-performed topical dramedy
Don't see it if you are expecting a deep look at the legal implications of denying a wedding cake to a same-sex couple. Read more
Critic Reviews (30)
"One of those 'issue' plays that goes down easy and leaves you undernourished...Whenever the play allows Della’s contradictions to flower, it feels dramatic, raising usefully unanswerable questions...These are stories that burnish the audience’s progressive credentials without really testing them against formidable opposition...Della — like 'The Cake' itself, if you can get past its cloying elements — is nevertheless trying to grapple with something quite complex for a comedy."
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"Brunstetter's compassionate and nuanced depiction of Della, a woman some might dismiss as a bigot, is 'The Cake's' biggest treat, and Rupp is delectable in the role...If only the rest of the play were so multilayered...Brunstetter is a master at mixing punch lines and sight gags with insightful sentiment, but she stirs in some unnecessary plot twists. And despite the actors' best efforts, Macy and Della's husband, Tim, mostly come off as two-dimensional mouthpieces."
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"The biggest surprise about 'The Cake' is how sweetly inoffensive it is...Brunstetter isn't particularly interested here in exploiting her topic's incendiary aspects...The play ultimately isn't very thought-provoking, but it's certainly entertaining...It's hard not to wish the playwright had explored the situation in greater depth or given her characters more nuance. But Brunstetter's crowd-pleasing instincts prove spot-on...Rupp's terrific performance is key to the evening's success."
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"'The Cake' is a play about our changing world that tries to understand every opinion in it, leavening the underlying seriousness with laughs. The comedy only works intermittently. Most of the time, I just wanted to strangle everyone onstage...Eventually, the author’s backbreaking determination to make everyone lovable leads to some happy-ending compromises I found unconvincing...Ultimately doesn’t provide much nutrition to take home...Its values belong in a doggie bag."
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"Brunstetter succeeds in creating compellingly real characters by exposing these contradictions...Rupp gives a fleshy, vulnerable, and deeply sympathetic performance as the Christian baker. On top of that, she's really funny, with near-perfect comic timing...Meadow supports these four excellent performances with a well-paced and handsomely designed production....If I can fault 'The Cake' for anything, it's an almost too-optimistic ending."
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"The conflict between seeing multiple sides of an issue and the insistence that there is only one correct side is the power that fuels Bekah Brunstetter's sweet and provocative multi-layered comedy/drama...An endearing and frequently moving production...If there seems to be a missing ingredient in 'The Cake,' it's because the situation appears to only be about the civil rights issue of purchasing a cake with no mention of the First Amendment."
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“The tastiest thing by far in ‘The Cake’ is Rupp...Brunstetter has crafted a madly scatterbrained steel magnolia, and Rupp brings her fully to life...A comic sketch, no matter how delightful, does not a play make, however, and ‘The Cake’ is on less solid ground when it turns to other, more serious matters...Still, under Meadow's smooth direction, Rupp opens up to us every step of Della's journey to an appreciation of a world that is far more complicated than she ever imagined.”
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"A hoot, and also a full, satisfying meal that clings to the ribs well after its hour and a half...Beneath the straightforward narrative, and along with Brunstetter's many comic lines and characters changing the subject when the subject becomes too uncomfortable, is a smart exploration of why, even in a land where so many of us watch the same TV shows and post on the same blogs and social media, we're so radically disunited...'The Cake' is delicious."
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