THE CUPCAKE CONSPIRACY: "Cupcakes are Easy. Marriage is Complicated"

"A farce with icing on top" - Sequim (WA) Gazette

When newly-separated Max decides to put his toes in the dating waters behind his soon-to-be ex's back, he hooks up with the wrong blind date and finds himself up to his neck in a dastardly plot involving cupcakes. Really evil cupcakes. Meanwhile Max's missed date, Suzie, takes off with Alvin, a secret agent of so many...
"A farce with icing on top" - Sequim (WA) Gazette

When newly-separated Max decides to put his toes in the dating waters behind his soon-to-be ex's back, he hooks up with the wrong blind date and finds himself up to his neck in a dastardly plot involving cupcakes. Really evil cupcakes. Meanwhile Max's missed date, Suzie, takes off with Alvin, a secret agent of so many identities even he can't remember who he is. Max's "date" with the sultry Natasha could be the best night of his life, if he can just stay ahead of her evil schemes, convince her he's the dread-sexy mastermind Bob X, and more important, keep his wife, Suzie, from finding out.

Co-written with Philip J. Kaplan
https://newplayexchange.org/users/2493/philip-kaplan

CRITICS SAY

“Clever, fun, funny” - Nancy Churnin, Dallas Morning News

“A farce, yes, about dangerous desserts. But it's also about how men and women, whether they're on a first date or married to each other, have trouble truly seeing the people they're with." - Peninsula Daily News

* “WOW. If you don’t like to laugh, if you are offended by sharp wit... or if you have a problem with hilarity in general, you should not see this play.” - Chris Cortinas theatre blog, Plano TX

* “A clever, scrumptious diversion” - National Examiner.com

* "It's hard to resist the genius of playwriting duo C.J. Ehrlich and Phillip J. Kaplan's premise that one could devise a volatile, yet scrumptious cupcake, as twisted and mind-blowing as slipping LSD into a Yoohoo (thank you, Pauline Kael).... On one level you could say Cupcake Conspiracy is a study of how we are so imprisoned by personal worldview, we are blinded to what we desperately need to see. Another interpretation is : No matter how imbecilic our mistakes, some higher intelligence trumps human folly."
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THE CUPCAKE CONSPIRACY: "Cupcakes are Easy. Marriage is Complicated"

Recommended by

  • Rachael Carnes:
    4 Feb. 2018
    A sheer delight! This zany play delivers laughs on every page and if you happen to be a current or ex-New Yorker, it will feel even more familiar: It's like this kooky brand of cupcake espionage the writers have invented *must* be happening just below the surface of that city all the time! Ehrlich (and co-writer Philip J. Kaplan) pinball their characters around with punchy dialogue and inventive scene work, plumbing the depths of farcical possibilities. My only question is: What happens next??

Development History

  • Reading
    ,
    PAC House Theatre, New Rochelle, NY
    ,
    2012
  • Reading
    ,
    Chappaqua Library Theatre, Chappaqua, NY
    ,
    2012
  • Workshop
    ,
    Dramatists Guild of America “Friday Night Footlights”, New York, NY
    ,
    2011

Production History

  • Community Theater
    ,
    The Florentine Players, Omaha, NE
    ,
    2017
  • Professional
    ,
    Rover Dramawerks, Plano, TX
    ,
    2015
  • Community Theater
    ,
    Readers Theatre Plus, Sequim, WA
    ,
    2015
  • Community Theater
    ,
    Aloha Performing Arts Company, Kealakekua, Hawaii (on-book production)
    ,
    2013

Awards

Winner
,
National New Play Competition
,
Rover Dramawerks, TX
,
2015
Finalist
,
Charles Getchell Award
,
SETC
,
2013
Finalist
,
International Comedy Competition
,
Mountain Playhouse, PA
,
2012