In “Two Strangers (Carry a Cake Across New York),” from May 20 to June 29 at the American Repertory Theater, a wedding cake becomes the unlikely vehicle for an emotional journey through Manhattan – and through the pasts and futures of two very different people.
Robin (Christiani Pitts), a guarded New Yorker just trying to get by, is tasked with picking up a cake for her sister’s wedding. The hitch? She’s joined by the groom’s son, Dougal (Sam Tutty), a relentlessly upbeat Brit visiting the city, and meeting his father, for the first time.
“It’s a story of people getting to know themselves while trying to get to know one another,” Pitts said. “What happens when you meet a stranger who makes you be vulnerable?”
Pitts described the show, which takes inspiration from traditional rom-coms, as “funny, heartfelt and just really special.”
Written by Jim Barne and Kit Buchan and directed and choreographed by Tim Jackson, “Two Strangers” comes to Cambridge from London, where Tutty originated the role of Dougal in the West End. Now making its North American debut, the show runs through June 29 at A.R.T.’s Loeb Drama Center in Harvard Square.
“At first I thought I was going to be playing catch-up because he’s done this before, but we’re exploring new things in this production,” Pitts said. “There are things being added, things being taken away. We’re both experiencing it for the first time.”
In “Two Strangers,” Robin and Dougal are the only two characters on stage.
“It has its challenges, but one of my favorite parts of the show has been creating the world outside of Robin and Dougal. The other characters that you don’t see are very much part of the story, and making their presence and their points of view strong was a huge part of the rehearsal process,” Pitts said. “Playing against people who aren’t there has been new, but it’s also been really exciting.”
The heart of the show, despite its whimsical premise, lies in its emotional honesty.
“In theater, especially musical theater, there’s often a big ‘I want’ for the main character, something big and epic, that drives them through the show,” Pitts said. “What I love about Robin is that she just wants to be happy, she just wants to feel okay. That’s something I think a lot of us are trying to figure out, but because it seems so simple, people don’t talk about it enough.”
That was one of the reasons Pitts was initially drawn to the show.
“This is a Black woman who gets to explore these emotions without any severe trauma or pain attached to it,” Pitts said. “It’s just her journey, and we’re not exploiting anything that often comes with characters I’ve been asked to play.”
That quiet emotional truth, coupled with a rich musical score that combines 1950s crooners with classic music theater and contemporary pop, gives “Two Strangers” a broad resonance that Pitts believes can appeal to everyone, no matter their age or life experience.
“At first I thought it was for a younger audience, but after working on it, after sharing the music with family and friends, I have people in my life who are all ages and all walks of life who are obsessed with the show,” Pitts said. “I think that’s because of that theme of just trying to find out how to be okay.”
That’s something that can resonate with people “at any stage,” she said, and the message Pitts hopes audiences will take with them.
“Everything you need to feel excited about life – to feel okay – is already within you,” she said. “And sometimes it just takes the right person, or the right day, to remind you.”
“Two Strangers” runs Tuesday through June 29 at the American Repertory Theater’s Loeb Theatre, 64 Brattle St., Harvard Square, Cambridge. $43 to $158, with discounts available to students and ticket-buyers under the age of 25, seniors, EBT card holders, Blue Star families, Harvard faculty and staff and others.
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