Playwright: Stacie Barra. At: Factory Theater at Prop Thtr ( sic ), 3502 N. Elston Ave. Tickets: 866-811-4111; www.thefactorytheater.com; $20. Runs through: Sept. 6
This could be "Nancy Drew and the Case of the Curious Cake Balls," except there are three femme detectives, all of them slightly kooky ( think Lucy and Ethel ) and they are the criminals as well as the detectives, just like Oedipus Rex. But perhaps I say too much.
Take the Cake begins when little old lady Edith ( Cheryl Roy ) gives younger neighbor Caroline ( Laura McKenzie ) a can of baking powder to help launch Caroline's cake-ball business. The cake balls are an instant success, so delicious everyone says they are "addictive." When Edith dies suddenly, Caroline and gal pals Holly ( playwright Stacie Barra ) and Margo ( Corrbette Pasko ) conclude it wasn't baking powder sifted into the recipe but crack cocaine, and that sweet widow Edith was a drug lord who died of an overdose. When police detective Stone ( Anthony Tournis ) becomes involved, the women try to cover their tracks but only dig the hole deeper, of course.
Despite the contemporary drug twist, Take the Cake is a knowing homage to 1950s sitcoms and never pretends to be either profound or artsy. Frantic and fun at a fast 85 minutes, it's staged by director Timothy C. Amos without pause or apologies as an unabashed romp. The actors barrel through the script at a furious pace with drop-dead-dry characterizations and considerable charm. Barra's script gives them plenty of ammunition, laced with more double entendres then the cake balls are laced with coke, and with plenty of well-delivered wisecracks. Along the way, Barra manages to insert a pair of dream fantasies one of which is a parody of a Spanish-language TV novella. Naturally, one must not take any of it seriously or stop to analyze the goings-on by rational measures. Still, as in all really good sitcom writing, Barra gives each character a swiftly-drawn but believable basis which draws them together and allows them to act in consistent ways thereafter. It's funny and smart writing, not merely silly.
The production is helped a great deal by Jason Moody's sound design and original music ( you'll love the pre-show announcements done as a rap song ), and by Gary Nocco's costumes and wigs that range from ordinary to the edge of outrageous without plunging over the precipice of campiness. Scenic and lighting designs ( by Zach Pozulp and Paul Foster, respectively ) are suitable and solid without being flashy. Aren't most sitcoms set in rather ordinary-looking living rooms?
The ensemble cast works hard and very much works together. Tournis, as the lone male, is particularly versatile but it's the veteran Roy who steals every scene she's in, whether as sweet Edith or a ghost in the novella. Take the Cake is a great show for a summer night!