THE 1041C Theater Reviews

To say that the performance of “Let Them Eat Cake” was an interesting experience would be an understatement. It certainly was an interesting performance but there was so much more to the play itself than that. When I first walked into the theater, known as Dixon Place, I was expecting a conventional play where there was a stage and the actors would perform their respective roles. As my fellow classmates and I sat in the lobby of Dixon Place waiting for the play to begin, a man in a suit and tie approached us and asked if we were here for the wedding. Confused, we replied no and the man was on his way. After asking the ticket broker about this, we were informed that it was all part of the experimental theater performance they were putting up. It seems that the play had began the moment we walked into the theater we were part of it.

When time came for the play to officially begin, we filed down to the basement theater with the other audience members and took our seats. A quick glance on stage and I notice that there is no real stage, only a small clearing with two tables and four chairs with white signs that read “Reserved.” I see a masculine looking woman walk around asking the audience members how they knew the grooms. All part of the act I suppose, I continue to observe the stage and notice a live DJ off the stage on the left. Looking around, I see that the audience is mostly settled and were waiting for the play to begin. In strolls a tall and formally dressed woman yelling “Is there a JT in here?” And the woman asking how people knew the grooms rises from within the audience and responds. The two exchange quick greetings and reveal that they are both gay. After discussing their views on gay marriage, JT leaves to look for her significant other, Sophie. What a beginning I thought to myself. But more importantly, what’s next?

The major theme of the play is the issue of gay marriage and, throughout the play, gay and straight people alike discuss it. The orthodox Russian Aunt Athena of one of the grooms serves as a representative of straight people on the issue. She makes it known that, even though she is there to witness the marriage between her gay nephew and his male lover, she opposes gay marriage. Aunt Athena serves mostly as comic relief through most of the play with her constantly referring to herself in the third person and willingness to speak even her most ridiculous thoughts. But she does help move the play along by urging the three gay women in the play to fight for their right to marry whoever they chose. Serving as representatives for gay people on the issue of marriage, the three gay women illustrate how there are differing opinions even among the gay population. The masculine JT and formal Leon argue for the freedom to marry whoever they so choose while Sophie, JT’s feminine significant other, argues for apathy.

As the three characters argue amongst themselves, with an occasional deferral to the audience members and remark from Aunt Athena, they force the audience to think about what marriage really is and what it means to get married. There is a lot of character development in terms of their emotional standing. But there is not so much development in terms of each character’s background save for a few mentions of a gay uncle. At the conclusion of the play, an improvised wedding involving hilarious costumes takes place between Leon and a stand in for her significant other.

Overall, I had a great time watching the performance of “Let Them Eat Cake.” Most of the comedy was relevant to the theme of gay marriage and the lack of background development did not detract from the play itself. The choice on the actors’ part to break the fourth wall kept the audience involved and interested. After the conclusion of the marriage, the actors came forward and shared their personal stories about gay marriage and some audience members even shared their own stories about gay marriage. This allowed the audience a rare instance to actually get to know the actors themselves instead of simply seeing the play and that being the end of it.