Cutting a Cake - A play about justice in six uneven slices (Att dela en kaka - sex olika stora bitar om rättvisa) is an exploration in justice and injustice. The play ponders who has the right to determine what is and isn’t just, how we define these criteria, and whether or not is in fact possible to even live in a world that is wholly just. Christoffer Mellgren takes the audience on a journey which asks questions but does not propose any black and white answers, instead prompting the audience to consider the ways in which to approach these moral dilemmas.
The play is divided into six parts, each dealing with a different facet of justice and morality. Genre-wise the play could be viewed as an educational youth play with elements of traditional dramatic dialogue and Brechtian alienation.
The characters question how much they have control over their own freedom, how to best divide a cake in such a way that it does not incite envy, and how to hierarchize the worth of one’s life to that of others. To what extent do we have control over our own morality? Is justice a social illusion used to maintain ideas about equality or is it simply a tool used to justify one’s own actions?
The play was written in 2019 for the Finnish Cultural Foundation’s 2017-2020 Art Testers (Taidetestaajat) project which aims to provide cultural and artistic experiences for all 8th graders in Finland and dispel the myth that art is difficult, old-fashioned and inaccessible. The play premiered in the Swedish Theatre in 2019. English translation by Edward Buffalo Bromberg.
The following quotes and lines of dialogue have been directly cited from the translation by Edward Buffalo Bromberg. The numbers refer to the page numbers from the original text.
3:
NARRATOR
Justice is an ancient word.
NARRATOR
Before justice existed in Swedish, one could find justice in other languages. Sometimes it had another name.
NARRATOR
And sometimes it meant something different as well.
NARRATOR
Even today justice might have different meanings. One person might think:
ONE
Justice – it means everyone gets as much as everyone else.
NARRATOR
Someone else might think:
SOMEONE ELSE
Justice – everybody gets what they deserve.
NARRATOR
And a third person, me for example, might believe that justice means everybody gets exactly what they need.
A FOURTH
Somebody might think that justice is every individual being able to choose for themselves. Do you like chocolate frosting or do you prefer vanilla?
ONE
Chocolate for me please.
A FOURTH
Well then, justice for you is chocolate frosting on your cake. Anyone who would rather have vanilla frosting should have vanilla.
SOMEONE ELSE
What if I don’t want cake at all?
A FOURTH
Who doesn’t like cake?
SOMEONE ELSE
I don’t like cake.
A FOURTH
That’s just stupid.
____________________________________________________
26:
C
So. Step right up. Now cut the cake into three pieces and make them as equal as you possibly can.
A
One. Two and three.
C
(turns to B) Now it’s your turn. You chose the two pieces you believe to be the biggest.
B
This one and ... this one.
C
Okay then, if you think one of the two biggest pieces is bigger than the other of the two, take the knife and trim it so that the two big pieces are exactly the same size.
B
Done.
C
Fine. Now it’s my turn. I get to pick the piece I want.
A
Which one do you want?
C
You’d probably be happy with any of them, I guess. Except maybe the one he just cut a piece off of.
A
Yepp.
C
And you would be happy with any one of the two pieces you thought were the bigger ones?
B
Yepp.
C
Now it’s my choice and if I don’t take the trimmed piece then you’ll have to have it.
B
Okay.
C
I’m taking this piece here.
Takes a piece of cake and puts it on a plate.
B
I’ll take the piece that’s been trimmed.
C takes the trimmed slice and puts it on another plate.
C
So this last piece is for you.
He puts A’s piece on the last of the plates.
C
And now everyone is satisfied.
B
I’m not satisfied.
A
What’s wrong with you? This was completely fair!
B
Except we didn’t share the whole cake.
A
Forget about that little piece. We can give it away.
B
No way – it’s our cake. That’s what was written.
