Bake Off

Bake Off by Sheri Wilner

(4)
Productions (102)
Comedy
|
15 - 25 minutes
1 W, 2 M, 
Content Notes: Adult language and content
Set: Two tables, with cooking and baking props

Last year, the largest cash prize in Bake Off history was awarded to a man; this year, one female contestant will make sure that the male entrants get their just desserts...

Pricing Information

Min. Performance Fee* $55
Standard Edition $11.99
Stage Manager Edition $24.99

*The per performance fee begins at $55. Your per performance fee will be provided during the ordering process.

Play Details

Last year, the largest cash prize in Bake Off history was awarded to a man; this year, one female contestant will make sure that the male entrants get their just desserts...

  • Comedy
  • |
  • 15 - 25 minutes
  • 1 W, 2 M, 
  • Content Notes: Adult language and content
  • Set: Two tables, with cooking and baking props

Published Reviews

"Sheri Wilner has concocted an original and laugh-out-loud satire on gender roles... Bake Off is barbed, witty, thoughtful, giggle and snort inducing and most of all compact; it accomplishes everything in 20 minutes tops."

Bruce Weber, The New York Times

"This short play is sure to have many productions...especially if it can be paired with an equally interesting, possibly contrasting, play. It will be a godsend to high school, college, and amateur theatre groups."

New York Theatre Wire

"Top honors go to Sheri Wilner's Bake Off, a devastatingly funny riff on the Pillsbury Bake-Off, in which contestant Rita, furious that a man won the previous year's grand prize for the first time, goes to any lengths to keep well-meaning Paul from repeating the other man's win."

CurtainUp

"This hilarious chapter in the battle of the sexes, a twisted take-off on the Pillsbury Bake-Off...is a wonderful piece, and it deserves to be performed more often..."

Julie Kistler, Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette (Illinois)

"An uproarious release of closeted kitchen feminism, an explosively funny cry of 'foul' as another traditional woman's role (such as that of elementary teacher or nurse) is usurped by a man, once the job pays enough to warrant his effort."

Roger McBain, Evansville Courier & Post (Indiana)

"In Bake Off, the playwright Sheri Wilner has concocted an original and laugh-out-loud satire on gender roles. A brief one-act, it was the clear apex of this...Humana Festival of New American Plays here at the Actors Theater of Louisville... Bake Off is barbed, witty, thoughtful, giggle and snort inducing and most of all compact; it accomplishes everything in 20 minutes tops."

Bruce Weber, New York Times

"Sheri Wilner's dark horse, dopey-sounding Bake Off was the unequivocal hit of the [Humana] Festival. Set at the Pillsbury Baking Competition in 1997 -- the year after the first-ever man took its first-ever million dollar prize -- Bake Off is crisply directed...bring[ing] out every nuance in Wilner's delicious writing... Truthfully, flour and eggs have never been so funny."

Jennie Webb, Backstage West

"Sheri Wilner's Bake Off mixes all the right ingredients into a compact tale of a female contestant in the Pillsbury Bake-Off who's on the warpath... Wilner is a name we should be hearing a lot more of."

Backstage

"Bake Off by Sheri Wilner is a comedy bordering on farce...a battle of the sexes that's both hilarious and thoughtful."

Bill Fark, North County Times (San Diego)

"Sheri Wilner triumphed with Bake Off, a 10-minute comedy pummeling the Pillsbury Doughboy..."

Tom Sellar, The Village Voice

"The icing on this cake was Sheri Wilner's Bake Off, a succinct and perfect mix of political wisdom and physical comedy. Rita is mightily scorched that the previous year, a man won the Pillsbury Bake-Off for the first time, walking off with the contest's largest prize ever. Her righteous indignation boils over, and the result includes a hilariously unpleasant rhubarb with the Pillsbury Doughboy. His giggle will never sound quite the same way again."

Jay Weitz, Columbus Alive

"The best developed show of the weekend was a comic romp, Bake Off by Sheri Wilner... Bake Off rises above the rest.

Jeffrey Eric Jenkins, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Production History

JAN 10, 2025 - JAN 12, 2025
MTVarts
Mount Vernon, OH United States
MTVartsMount Vernon, OH United States
APR 11, 2024 - APR 13, 2024
University of Arkansas-Fort Smith
Fort Smith, AR United States
University of Arkansas-Fort SmithFort Smith, AR United States
DEC 08, 2023 - DEC 09, 2023
Osbourn Park High School
Manassas, VA United States
Osbourn Park High SchoolManassas, VA United States
APR 14, 2023 - APR 14, 2023
Lee's Summit West HS Theatre
Lees Summit, MO United States
Lee's Summit West HS TheatreLees Summit, MO United States
MAR 17, 2023 - MAR 18, 2023
Red Lodge Public Schools
Red Lodge, MT United States
Red Lodge Public SchoolsRed Lodge, MT United States
JAN 15, 2023 - FEB 14, 2023
Denison High School
Denison, IA United States
Denison High SchoolDenison, IA United States
JAN 14, 2023 - JAN 15, 2023
Jesuit Dallas
Dallas, TX United States
Jesuit DallasDallas, TX United States
NOV 10, 2022 - NOV 12, 2022
School District Of Cudahy
Cudahy, WI United States
School District Of CudahyCudahy, WI United States
SEP 15, 2022 - SEP 17, 2022
University of Central Missouri
Warrensburg, MO United States
University of Central MissouriWarrensburg, MO United States
MAY 04, 2022 - MAY 05, 2022
Davidson College Theatre Department
Davidson, NC United States
Davidson College Theatre DepartmentDavidson, NC United States
1 of 11
No upcoming productions.
JUN 01, 2002 - JUL 30, 2002
City Theatre Summer Shorts
Miami, FL United States
City Theatre Summer ShortsMiami, FL United States
APR 01, 2002 - APR 30, 2002
Actors Theatre of Louisville
Louisville, KY United States
Actors Theatre of LouisvilleLouisville, KY United States
JUL 01, 2001 - JUL 30, 2001
Cherry Lane Theatre
New York, NY United States
Cherry Lane TheatreNew York, NY United States

Awards (2)

Heideman Award winner, National 10-Minute Play Contest, Actors Theatre of Louisville, 2001

American Theatre Critics Association/Steinberg New Play Award nomination