Review: 'Chicken & Biscuits' Delivers the Laughs in Expert Production

Ever wonder what happened to the commercial family farce? Today theatrical family dramas tend to focus more on the dysfunction with dark humor (think of "The Humans," or "August. Osage County"); but in the 1960s through the 1990s, these kinds of plays, which combined the humorous and serious along with a tidy message in the end, were welcome fare on Broadway with many finding their way on film. Think of "Gemini," Albert Innaurato's comedy about a gay man's homecoming to his Italian-American family; or "Norman, Is That You?," a farce by the team of Ron Clark and Sam Bobrick about a Jewish gay man in a relationship with another man who gets a surprise visit by his parents. When that was made into a film, the Jewish couple were Black (and played by Pearl Bailey and Redd Foxx) and the gay couple were interracial.

A similar scenario is found in "Chicken & Biscuits," Doug Lyons' unapologetically audience-friendly play that marks the first solo outing by The Front Porch Arts Collective, Boston's newest theater company dedicated to advancing racial equality through theater. For the past six years, they have been doing co-productions with numerous local companies. Judging from the uproarious response from the audience at the Modern Theatre where it runs through January 8, the company provides welcome counter programming to the season's holiday fare and delivers it with an expert production.

Like the film "Norman, Is That You?," the play concerns Black parents dealing with their gay son being in an interracial relationship. That, though, is just one of the numerous themes brimming in Lyons' busy narrative that has an unusual setting: the funeral service of preacher Bernard Jenkins at the New Haven church he presided over for decades. Gathered are his daughter Baneatta Mabry (the excellent Jacqui Parker) and her husband Reginald Mabry (Robert Cornelius), Jenkins' successor at the church who hopes his eulogy will endear him to the congregation he will be taking over. And joining them at the service are Baneatta's younger and wilder sister Beverly (Thomika Bridwell), Beverly's teenage daughter La'Trice (Lorraine Kankakee). They're also joined by Baneatta's children – overachieving Simone (Sabrina Lynne Sawyer) and underachieving Kenny (Adrian Peguero). Over the nearly two hours (intermission-less length), secrets and lies are revealed, as is the appearance of some expected guests that expose the family's unresolved tensions in a raucous way.

That Beverly is a thorn in her sister's side is apparent. Dressed in a tight-fitting cobalt blue dress that leaves little to the imagination, Beverly is the outrageous reverse of her prim sister, and gets some of Lyon's best lines: "Why we gotta wear black, huh? We already Black!" she says while dressing for the event. "We should be honoring my Daddy in style, color!" Not surprisingly, Baneatta is not pleased with her sister's outfit or her lifestyle, but she has more on her mind, wondering why her gay son Kenny brought a white man to the service. And who is the mysterious caller threatening to crash the event?

The gay interloper is Logan Liebowitz (Mishka Yarovoy), who gets a cold shoulder from Beneatta and Simone (they continually call him by the wrong first name). For Baneatta, her son being gay remains problematic, which isn't so much the issue with Simone. Rather, she faults him for going outside his race for his boyfriend. Simone is dealing with some personal race issues of her own – her fiancé recently left her for a white woman and she is filled with residual rage. That the gay issues reflect the social dynamic of the nearly 50-year-old "Norman, Is That You?" is a topic worthy of conversation for another time. Here it is largely played for laughs, and it gets plenty of mileage out Logan's fish-out-of-water presence.

But the point of "Chicken & Biscuits" isn't so much to explore the deeper sociological tensions that exist in this family, but to gently chide them in a broad style. That Lyons introduces a mysterious cell phone caller in the opening scene leads to the arrival of Brianna (Ines de la Cruz), who enters the play at a crucial moment with anarchic results. Throughout, director Lyndsay Allyn Cox capably balances the real-life issues with the over-the-top comedy, most notably in the inevitable family brawl that's quite cleverly staged in slow motion with teenage LaTrice providing a rapping counterpoint.

What makes "Chicken & Biscuits" so enjoyable is the synergy of its cast. Parker anchors the play as the family matriarch trying to get through the day without incident, but learning that conflict is part of this family's DNA. Playing her foil in larger-than-life fashion is the very funny Thornika Bridwell, who wisely brings her performance down for some genuinely real moments toward the end. Equally good is Lorraine Kanyike, who shows that the apple doesn't fall very far from the tree. Robert Cornelius plays the family's peacemaker with skill; Sabrina Lynne Sawyer embodies Simone's cool presence without making her too brittle; and Ines de la Cruz brings believability into the role of a mysterious stranger. As the anxious Kenny, Adrian Peguero is empathetic as Kenny, caught between dealing with his closeted life within the family and his open one with Logan; and as Logan, Mishka Yarovoy is wonderfully anxious and nerdy, especially when he attempts to fit in.

Erik D. Diaz's set on the Modern's thrust stage offers a cartoony church interior, which includes the dead preacher's coffin, the appearance of which gives Bridwell another very funny, significant moment. Designers Zoe Sundra (Costumes) and Earon Chew Nealey (Hair, Wig and Makeup) provide the character-appropriate looks with the scene-stealing Bridwell looking more like she's on her way to a club than her father's funeral.

The play's title alludes to the dead preacher's favorite recipe, which the family shares at the play's warm conclusion. Lyons may tie things up a bit too tidily with this post-funeral dinner, but he does deliver a contemporary farce that makes a clever throwback to a style of family comedy that once thrived in the theater. It may skirt more serious issues, but delivers abundant laughs in the hands of this talented ensemble.

"Chicken & Biscuits" continues through January 8, 2023 at Suffolk University's Modern Theater, 525 Washington St., Boston, MA. For more information, visit the Front Porch Arts Collective website.