A Sunday afternoon presents an opportunity to reflect, think, repurpose one’s life, connect with a religious tradition, renew the spirit for the week ahead, or a really good reason to check out a play! On this particular day, I had an opportunity to check out Little Theatre of Norfolk’s Chicken and Biscuits! This play featured some of Hampton Roads’ finest actors. Douglas Lyons wrote this funny, serious, laugh-out-loud, Broadway hit. He is a highly talented actor, writer, director, composer, playwright, and his acting credits include the “Book of Mormon, the Original Cast of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical and Tony award winning Broadway revival of Parade.” He has also written for Apple TV’s series Fraggle Rock. I was fortunate enough to trade emails with him about the play. More on that later, though. The multi-talented Sharon Cook directed this production. Cook is the co-founder of UPAC (The Underground Performing Arts Collective). A few months ago, UPAC put on a spectacular performance of A Motown Christmas at Zeiders American Dream Theater, Virginia Beach, VA. UPAC has not lost steam. It continues to entertain audiences and represent underserved communities.
After parking on Claremont Ave., my wife and I jumped into the surge of well-dressed attendees, funneling into the theater from the sunbathed street. Once we navigated the lobby and secured the tickets, we immediately entered the familiar warmth and culture of the African American church. Little Theatre of Norfolk really captured the vibe of an old Black church, with a large image of Black Jesus hanging on a nearby wall and the familiar sounds of an organ’s somber keys. A carefully lit stage had all the familiar elements of a Black church setting: a large cross in the middle of stained glass, a few pews, a lectern, and for this particular play, a silver coffin!
Attendees sat in their seats, laughing and talking, as the soft music played in the background. Once I settled into my seat, I checked some email on my phone, while other theater goers located their seats. Honestly, the show began once I entered the building. Little Theatre of Norfolk set up this performance as an immersive experience. As soon as I entered the lobby, the experience of this play began. The energy consumed the building, easily placing attendees into the experience of the afternoon’s theme(s).
Prior to arriving at Little Theatre of Norfolk, I contacted Douglas Lyons (the show’s writer) through his website and sent messages to his Facebook and Instagram accounts, hoping to get some feedback for this article. I thought he would either contact me in the following week or just simply not contact me at all. To my surprise, he contacted me several minutes after the show began. He agreed to email correspondence, so I sent him four quick questions within the first twenty minutes of the play. Then, I turned my attention to the show.
Mr. Calvin Graves, Jr., who was dressed in a sharp, gray suit and tie, stood beneath the hot spotlight, and started to read the “house rules” for the audience. Soon after that, this particular theater experience began!
Chicken and Biscuits was a highly entertaining play, exploring family secrets, sibling rivalries, complex relationships, while paying respects to the family patriarch who had recently died. This edgy play definitely kept my attention. The performance began with solid character development, introducing the various characters and their unique personalities to the audience. Mr. Lyons chose the right characters to introduce first, such as the highly entertaining Beverly Jenkins (Erika Patrick). Her comedic lines and outgoing, no-nonsense personality perfectly set up this play. Her vibrant attitude pulsed throughout the entire afternoon, providing laugh-out-loud moments and moments of seriousness, especially as she and her older sister, Baneatta Mabry (Arnecia Williams) began to wrestle with sibling issues. Baneatta’s and Beverly’s sibling rivalry captured the nuances and dynamics of this Black family and represented the joy and pain of shared experiences. The sisters’ respective lifestyles clashed, and the two women frequently found themselves trying to unpack their issues. Private family issues easily became public!
Beverly Franklin’s daughter in Chicken and Biscuits was La’Trice Franklin (KeeAjah Baldwin). She also provided a bit of humor and a youthful energy to the play, adding to the humorous elements. Beverly Franklin and La’Trice Franklin constantly went back and forth, as mothers and daughters tend to do. They continually traded remarks and comments, but La’Trice Franklin knew how far she could go before really making her mother angry.
I asked Mr. Lyons to talk about his motivations behind Chicken and Biscuits. The characters just felt like people I knew. He said, “Chicken and Biscuits' inception was a combo platter of my experiences growing up as a PK (preacher's kid) in conjunction with the multiple personalities of my extended family. I wanted to capture the joy and drama that Black family brings, giving us not only an opportunity to laugh, but to heal.” I genuinely believed in the authenticity of the characters, which did not feel forced at all. I found myself continually laughing at the jokes, which consistently hit their marks, like a seasoned stand-up comedian effortlessly working through his/her set. I generally loved the pace. I also felt myself identifying with many of the issues, remembering different situations with friends and family members.
Although the play started off with a light-hearted tone, the play quickly developed the underlying issues of the family members. I felt a great balance of highs and lows. Even though the story centered on the loss of the family patriarch, the humor did not allow me to focus on the finality of death. Baneatta Marby (Arnecia Williams) and Reginald Marby (Ja’Mel Dean) helped frame the general objective of the day: to celebrate the life of their patriarch. They centered the funeral service as the main goal, but they also allowed themselves to be vulnerable, as they worked through underlying issues of sustaining a marriage, careers, and addressing insecurity issues.
Lyons efficiently introduced the individual characters of the play and their different perspectives, which helped to explore different storylines that occurred later on in the play. Like I said before, I did not have a lot of time to explore the concept of death and what it meant to this family. The play also reminded me that death impacts those who remain.
A real eye-opening layer to this carefully crafted play was the gay couple–Kenny Mabry (Joe White) and Logan Leibowitz (Hunter Thomas). In the play, they also represented struggling actors. This is fleshed out in their first scene together, as well as some of their underlying issues. Their relationship was explored, and their general feelings for each other were revealed.
The Black church has had historical issues with these types of relationships, so I wondered how this unique relationship would evolve in the larger story. I asked Lyons about pushing these boundaries and exploring the addition of the gay couple. He corrected me by saying, “I wouldn't say that the gay couple is added to the story. I'd say they are as central and essential as any other part. This play zeros in on the intersectionality of faith and sexual identity. For so long, out of shame, the Black church has attempted to erase Queer existence from its pews. I, on the other hand, choose to celebrate and discuss it.”
In Chicken and Biscuits, Kenny Mabry and Logan Leibowitz struggled with how their relationship would be perceived. This element was certainly implied, and attendees could put those pieces together. Kenny clearly wrestled with his immediate family members’ perceptions, but he was adamant that Logan attend the funeral service for support. Leibowitz mostly dealt with how to conduct himself at a Black funeral. When he finally arrived with Kenny, his honesty and awkwardness provided some humorous and teachable moments, and like Beverly Jenkins, he brought the house down with uproarious laughter.
Kenny’s family did not have much of a problem with his relationship with Logan, or they simply did not acknowledge the relationship, which, again, points to how the Black church has historically related to the issue of gay relationships. It is very obvious that Lyons wants Kenny Mabry’s and Logan Leibowitz’s relationship to be represented, but he also wants the audience to understand the perspective of the Black church as well.
Simone Mabry (Raven Woods) and Kenny Mabry, due to their ages, had a close relationship, and she subtly acknowledged the relationship between her brother and Logan Leibowitz, referring to them as the “thespians.”
At a later time in the story, La’Trice Franklin (KeeAjah Baldwin) eavesdropped on a private phone conversation and learned that Logan Leibowitz wanted to propose to Kenny Mabry. After a few funny moments over what Logan was smoking, the two characters arrived at an understanding, which deepened their relationship and expanded the story.
I thought the exploration of Kenny’s and Logan’s relationship was a nice touch to the story and served as a teachable moment. It also demonstrated that bonds could still be created between people, despite personal feelings and beliefs.
Chicken and Biscuits was filled with tons of funny and silly moments, which worked well with the more serious tones and themes of the play. For example, Mother Jones (Janae Thompson) was another unique character, whose voice could be found struggling for the right notes throughout the play. Usually, Mother Jones’ voice broke up the tense moments of some family issues. Janae Thompson is a theatrical performer and content creator. She stood in for the regular actor that Sunday afternoon. She said, “I am not really in the cast. I was just filling in for Popii that Sunday. The role of Mother Jones was alternated between Popii and Sharon. I believe Mother Jones is a symbol within the church community, a dedicated church goer who is set in their ways but ultimately longing to continue to be present in the evolving church culture. She just wanted to lift her voice in honor of her former pastor, Reginald Jenkins. Mother Jones is an ode to all the Baptist church mothers who we all know and love, but sometimes their actions can be too much and comical.”
Another example would be when little known sister Brianna Jenkins (Peyton Henderson), showed up at the funeral to pay her respects. The play took another abrupt turn, adding to all of the previous drama. Baneatta expressed an awareness about Brianna and informed Beverly that Brianna was the same age as Beverly, which made for some funny reactions from Beverly. The circumstance also walked another elephant into the room, which was implied: the patriarch’s infidelity. Yikes! Given that this was a funeral, that little detail was left for the minds of attendees to think about.
Chicken and Biscuits was a complex and humorous play, underscoring the complexities of the Black family and the Black church, while exploring a host of themes, such as family bonds, understanding, empathy, compassion, infidelity, and reconciliation.
While the characters honored the family patriarch, they explored unresolved issues and family secrets. The mixture of laughs and moments of deep contemplation certainly carried the play, but they also offered unique ways to unpack family values, problems, and dynamics, as well as address tough conversations about race, religion, respectability-politics, sexuality, and identity.
The themes and subjects of the play continued to resonate with me for the rest of that surreal, Sunday afternoon.
Synnika Alek-Chizoba Lofton is an award-winning poet, author, educator, and recording artist. He is the author of more than 35 books and has published more than 170 spoken word albums. Lofton earned both a B.A. in Creative Writing from Goddard College (2004) and an M.F.A. in Creative Writing (2006).
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