MIDDLEBURY — On June 4, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 7-2 in favor of a male Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a male same sex couple, citing his religious beliefs and First Amendment rights. This decision followed years of similar interactions across the United States between bakers who refused to honor gay marriages and pairs who wanted to tie the knot.
In “The Cake,” the couple is lesbian and the baker is a middle-aged woman. Della makes cakes, not judgment calls — those she leaves to her husband, Tim. But when the girl she helped raise comes back home to North Carolina to get married, and the fiancé is actually a fiancée, Della’s life gets turned upside down.
What’s refreshing and heartening about “The Cake” is its characters’ willingness to face their differences and limitations head-on.
Directed by Rebecca Strum, the cast includes Victoria Luksch, Tamara Brown, Cael Barkman, David Schein, and MacArthur Stine with Frankie Dunleavy reading stage directions.
Come see the local staged reading of “The Cake” on Sunday, Nov. 17, 4 p.m., at The Vermont Coffee Company, 1197 Exchange Street, Middlebury. A talkback with the cast and refreshments follow the performance. Admission is free ($10 donation suggested).