‘The Cake’ tackles social issues with a strong cast and a sweet touch from Crescent City Stage

Navigating the nuances of America’s political and social divides is no cakewalk. It’s a messy business, one that’s often easier to avoid altogether by clinging to like-minded tribes and railing against outsiders rather than doing the difficult work of having hard conversations.

So give credit to playwright Bekah Brunstetter, who — inspired by a real-life headline about a bakery refusing to make a wedding cake for a gay couple — penned “The Cake,” a 2017 romantic comedy that mines compassion from confrontation.

While the script doesn’t hit every note it reaches for, the regional premiere from Crescent City Stage, directed by company co-founder Elizabeth Newcomer, is a handsome and heartfelt production, a sweet treat that goes down easy.

Set in small town North Carolina, “The Cake” is big on Southern charm. At the center is Della, the downhome churchgoing cake shop owner known for specialties like her strawberry lemonade cake.

She’s a sweetheart, but things turn sour when her dear friend’s daughter, Jen, returns home to plan a wedding. Realizing that the dream wedding includes two brides and no groom, Della declines Jen’s request for a wedding cake, sparking a crisis of conscience for both the baker and the brides-to-be.

Grit and grace

The play’s top notch production values start with an excellent cast. As Della, Lara Grice exudes grit and grace—and delivers some of the play’s best laugh-out-loud moments—as she reflects on her own beliefs and sense of what’s decent.

Jen, played by Joy Donze, evokes Reese Witherspoon in “Sweet Home Alabama,” as the conflicted character falls squarely in the “country girl comes home from the city” trope, though Donze’s empathetic performance adds some depth beneath the drawl.

In a pair of supporting roles, Lorene Chesley is strong and stern as Jen’s outspoken partner Macy, and Mike Harkins lends a soft touch to Della’s hardline conservative husband Tim.

Because “The Cake” is an “issue play,” the script requires some overwrought hand-wringing and proselytizing from its actors, at times reducing characters to a one-dimensional point of view.

Brunstetter too often oversimplifies complicated issues and, particularly given the playwright’s background as a television writer, the result sometimes feels like a Hallmark movie crossed with an Afterschool Special.

Strong cast, sharp design

Still, the production is poignant and light enough to avoid getting too tripped up by the writer’s heavy hand, thanks to the strong cast and high quality design elements. The scenic design is sharp and lively, the costumes smart and colorful, and the light and sound designs pop with professionalism (Michael A. Newcomer, Jahise LaBouef, Liam Gardner, Amara Skinner).

“The Cake” concludes with a neat little marzipan bow on top, a happily-ever-after ending that caps off the breezy 90-minute production.

The clash between the play’s complicated social issues and its feel-good approach to storytelling doesn’t always work (you might say it’s a case of wanting to have one’s cake and eat it too), and “The Cake” is unlikely to make much progress healing the nation’s divides, but — like Della naively suggesting she could achieve world peace by baking a cake for every member of ISIS — maybe it’s as good a place to start as any.

*********************

THE CAKE

WHEN: through June 16

WHERE: Marquette Theater

Loyola University

6363 St. Charles Ave.

TICKETS: $25-$95 ($10 with Loyola University ID)

INFO: crescentcitystage.com