Director Heather Dupree on The Cake: “It Makes Us Feel and Think”

ACT News
3 days ago
2 min read

The Cake is a comedy with heart, but underneath the laughter is a story asking deeply human questions about love, faith, family, and what it means to take a step toward someone else.

For director Heather Dupree, who makes her ACT directorial debut with this production, the draw was immediate.

“The story,” she says. “It’s beautifully written and very relevant to today. Both funny and poignant just like life.”

Written by This Is Us writer Bekah Brunstetter, The Cake centers on Della, a beloved North Carolina baker whose carefully ordered world is disrupted when the daughter of her late best friend returns home and asks Della to make a cake for her wedding. The request forces Della to confront questions of faith, identity, loyalty, and love in ways she never expected.

For Dupree, the power of the play comes from the way it refuses to flatten its characters or reduce the story to a simple argument.

“It brings awareness to two sides of an issue that so many can relate to,” she says. “It doesn’t admonish or mock but shines a light on what is possible through love.”

That balance has been central to Dupree’s approach to Della, a character who sits at the heart of the play’s biggest questions while also remaining funny, vulnerable, and deeply human.

Dupree says her focus has been on “making sure the character is sincere in her beliefs and that the conflict she faces is viewed by the audience not simply as a moral conflict but one of faith.”

Thankfully, she adds, “the story uses humor to soften the edges of the journey.”

That humor has been alive in the rehearsal room as well. Dupree describes the process with the cast as joyful, generous, and full of discovery.

“This cast is incredibly talented and they were all willing to be vulnerable and really dive into the story,” she says. “Every rehearsal was rich in discovery and play. Every director’s dream.”

This production also marks Dupree’s first time directing at ACT, a milestone made even more meaningful by the play itself.

“I’m so grateful to have the opportunity to tell THIS story with THIS cast in THIS place and time,” she says. “The Cake is exactly the kind of story I love. It touches our heart and soul and it makes us laugh out loud. It makes us feel AND think.”

And when asked to finish the sentence “At its heart, The Cake is about…” Dupree’s answer was simple: