Alas, many people find themselves trapped in unsatisfying marriages long after the love they once shared has disappeared. Too afraid to seek a better situation, some people remain stuck in passionless relationships in which substance abuse and/or domestic violence have crushed the love that originally brought two people together. While some dream about having a sugar daddy or becoming a gigolo, key factors such as jealousy, lying, and income inequality can easily destroy a relationship. In the following clip, Trevor Noah offers some cogent advice for those who are single.
Those who are lucky enough to find a loyal, devoted, and loving partner often find themselves battling the irrational prejudices, unreasonable expectations, and false assumptions of friends, family, and coworkers. Stop and think, for a minute, of people you know who have found happiness in a relationship based on kink, a same-sex attraction, or a stark difference in the age, social standing, and economic power of two partners. From the inside looking out, what makes such relationships click should be nobody's else's business. But for nosy neighbors, hyper-religious people, racists, prudes, homophobes, and many others, any relationship that doesn't match their default parameters is fair game for suspicion, criticism, and even violence.
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San Francisco's New Conservatory Theatre Center is currently presenting the regional premiere of Bekah Brunstetter's play entitled The Cake in a tidy and intimate production directed by Tracy Ward. Before delving into the legal fracas that has erupted between homophobic bible thumpers and LGBTQ couples planning their [now] fully legal marriages, it would be wise to pause, take a deep breath, and try to remember the culture shock experienced by families and friends 50 years ago when an interracial couple announced their desire to marry.In 1970, two gay men in Minneapolis (Jack Baker and Michael McConnell) became the first known same-sex couple to apply for a marriage license in the United States. On June 26, 2015, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges that “the fundamental right to marry is guaranteed to same-sex couples by both the Due Process Clause and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.” This week, Newsweek published an article by Aila Slisco entitled “Supreme Court Justices Brett Kavanaugh and Samuel Alito Urged to Recuse Themselves from LGBT Cases” following news that, despite controversial cases regarding LGBT rights on the Supreme Court's agenda, the two men recently met with representatives of the homophobic National Organization for Marriage.
Brunstetter's drama aims to circumnavigate all the friction caused by conservative animus toward LGBT people and the resulting legal proceedings which (a) challenge a business's blatant insistence on discriminating against LGBT customers and, (b) allege that a bakery's refusal to compromise its "artistic integrity" has nothing whatsoever to do with state laws requiring the business to serve the general public.
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| J.J. Van Name (Della) in a scene from The Cake (Photo by: Lois Tema) |
Brunstetter's protagonist is Della (J.J. Van Name). a devout Christian woman from North Carolina who is thrilled to be a contestant on the Great American Baking Show. Worshiping Jesus and butter with near equal adoration, Della loves baking, loves her customers, and loves her cakes with a passion that may compensate for the lack of affection and sex in her marriage to Tim (Dixon Phillips), who was recently diagnosed with infertility.
When Della's goddaughter, Jen (Jensen Power), drops by the bakery for a quick visit, Della is ecstatic to hear that Jen is planning to get married and immediately offers to bake the wedding cake. But upon discovering that Jen's spouse-to-be is a young black woman named Macy (Asia Jackson), Della's upbringing as a good Christian woman leaves her deeply conflicted. After much soul searching, she comes to the conclusion that she cannot, in good faith, do what would otherwise come naturally as Jen's godmother. Torn between her love for Macy and for her dead mother's best friend, Jen (who tends to avoid confrontation) finds herself with no choice but to disinvite Della from the wedding.
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| Jensen Power (Jen) and Asia Jackson (Macy) in a scene from The Cake (Photo by: Lois Tema) |
“It was really important to me to start with a character who has conservative values and make her the hero: to start the play with her and, hopefully, have the audience fall in love with her. Then, after they get to know her, have her do something that liberal theatre audiences don't agree with so that they have to wrestle with how they feel about her (just like she’s wrestling with her belief system),” explains the playwright. “A lot of plays are more on the scathing side when it comes to organized religion. As a writer, I love being able to explore different points of view and maybe help equip people for those difficult conversations.”
By framing the drama around Della's predicament, her personal confusion about Jen's love for another woman, and her intense anguish at not being able to celebrate her goddaughter's happiness, Brunstetter puts a decidedly more guilt-ridden and human face on the situation than a stubborn baker driven by religious dogma (who may be backed by political operatives) or two brides planning for what they hope will be the best day in their lives. Additional touches include Della being rejected by the producers of The Great American Baking Show after word leaks out about what she has done, her decision to wait outside the church in her car during the wedding ceremony even if she is no longer welcome at the event, and Macy's decision to bring Della a piece of the wedding cake as a gesture of peace and healing.
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| Asia Jackson (Macy) and J.J. Van Name (Della) in a scene from The Cake (Photo by: Lois Tema) |
As NCTC's Artistic Director, Ed Decker, explains:
“Sometimes I just want to leave all the politics behind and get to a place where the struggle is not about who stays on top, but more about the responsibilities we have to hold one another in equanimity. While legal wrangling may be a jumping-off point for Bekah Brunstetter’s dramatic comedy, it is not, in my view, the beating heart of the story. That belongs to the people who inhabit this beautiful play. Good people whose ideals are often at considerable odds with one another, the changing times, and at times even with themselves. Deeply held beliefs, questions of morality, judgment calls, faith, and the bonds of family churn with high emotional frequency.”
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| Jensen Power (Jen) and J.J. Van Name (Della) in a scene from The Cake (Photo by: Lois Tema) |
“It is in all of our best interests to quell hatred and bigotry whenever it takes center stage, but finding a path forward is complicated. The Cake is further affirmation that now, more than ever, we need storytelling that helps us move towards rather than away from each other. Even if we find ourselves in disagreement, we simply must work harder to elevate discourse that serves the bigger picture: respect and dignity for everyone.”
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| Jensen Power (Jen) in a scene from The Cake (Photo by: Lois Tema) |
With costumes by Joanne Martin, lighting by Molly Stewart-Cohn, sound design by Kalon Thibodeaux, and a trim and tidy set designed by Carlos Aceves, NCTC's production benefits from strong performances by Jensen Power and Asia Jackson as the lesbian lovers. J.J. Van Name's hilarious, yet achingly tender portrayal of Della as the Christian equivalent of a Jewish "balabusta" is guaranteed to win the hearts of theatregoers.
Performances of The Cake continue through December 1 at the New Conservatory Theatre Center (click here for tickets). Here's the trailer:
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Written, designed, and directed by Gitanjali Rao, Bombay Rose is a full-length animation feature from India which will be screened at the 3rd i Film Festival. As one watches this film it quickly becomes apparent that Rao's visual gifts are far more compelling than her narrative efforts. |
| Poster art for Bombay Rose |
The film’s protagonist is a young woman named Kamala who, in order to provide for her grandfather and younger sister (Tara), works two jobs. During the day she makes necklaces of fresh flowers to sell. At night, she is one of the dancers on display is an open-air nightclub. Kamala is also under contract to a pimp who plans to sell her into an arranged marriage with a local gangster who is a notoriously brutal thug.
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| Kamala is the beautiful protagonist in Bombay Rose |
Though she is often depressed, Kamala’s physical beauty does not go unnoticed. A young man named Salim, who makes his living by stealing flowers from cemeteries, has a crush on her and keeps bringing her a single rose. Hunky, handsome, lovesick and poor, Salim ended up in Bombay after his parents were killed by Kashmir militants. Though Kamala is attracted to Salim, the fact that she is Hindu and he is Muslim means that a relationship between them would be subject to constant scorn.
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| Salim has a huge crush on Kamala in Bombay Rose |
Peripheral characters include a flower seller, Kamala’s intimidating pimp, and an orphaned young boy who is both blind and deaf. A curious relationship between Shirley D’Souza (a widowed schoolteacher who is coaching Tara in how to speak proper English) and Anthony Pereira (an antiques merchant who pines for Shirley's love) leads to a surprise ending which gives Kamala the financial freedom to break her wedding contract and have enough financial security to continue paying for Tara’s education without having to sell herself into marriage with a strange man in Dubai.
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| Kamala, Salim, and Tara befriend a blind and deaf young orphan in Bombay Rose |
Rao’s story shines a light on the economic exploitation of orphans and other children who are forced into cheap labor, the taboo against interfaith marriages, the growing lack of skilled artisans like Kamala’s grandfather (who used to repair watches), and the dangers inherent in marriages arranged by greedy pimps.
It took Rao and a team of 60 artists nearly 18 months to complete Bombay Rose, a full-length animation feature whose lush color palette includes impressive fantasy sequences in which a talking hawk can easily be transformed into a threatening male figure and a pair of young lovers can fly away from their cares on a mythological horse. All of this is supported by Yoav Rosenthal’s attractive film score. Unfortunately, the craftsmanship is often more interesting than the story. Here's the trailer:
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