Dex Edwards poses for a portrait in Fulton Chapel’s workship.
Photo by Thomas Graning I The Daily Mississippian
On Jan. 21, associate theatre arts professor Dex Edwards performed a dress rehearsal of his upcoming production, “Cake: A Story Piece.” The entire piece, written and performed by Edwards alone, is part of a trilogy that has been performed in locations such as Oregon and Atlanta and, soon, Los Angeles. “Cake: A Story Piece” is the second installment following “Rising Sun,” another production Edwards wrote.
“The third part will actually happen another year from now out in L.A.,” Edwards said.
It will also appear here in Oxford.
According to the official press release, “Cake: A Story Piece” is a one-man show written originally with 26 characters.
Edwards said some of the characters were based on people he knew, though one was unfortunately cut from production. He said his grandmother plays a large role in the show.
“It is most like I’m just telling a series of stories with different characters,” Edwards said. “Unfortunately one of the characters, Uncle Jimmy, was cut, so I will only have 25 characters for the production.”
Edwards is best known for his work as a set designer and has received many honors, including a Critics’ Choice Award, for his design work.
Edwards explained that though the set for “Cake: A Story Piece” is very simple and didn’t take much work, it is still very important in the telling of his story.
Throughout the production, Edwards tells several seemingly unrelated stories. In addition to this, he bakes three cakes during the performance: a chocolate, a red velvet and a butter cake. Then he puts them all together.
“You would think that all these cakes together would not be good at all, but once the audience tastes the cake — yes, the audience will be invited to eat the actual cake after the performance on the stage — they will see how well it goes together, just like the stories I will tell during the play.”
University of Mississippi senior Maricia Echols attended one of Edwards’ classes in the past and said she plans to see the show.
“Mr. Edwards is very good at what he does and truly loves his work,” she said.
“Cake: A Story Piece” will be showing Jan. 24 and 25 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. in the Meek Auditorium, and admission is a $5 donation to the theatre arts scholarship fund. Edwards and all involved strongly encourage everyone to attend.
