Review: CHICKEN & BISCUITS at NextStop Theatre

NextStop Theatre invites the DC-Metro area to church with Chicken & Biscuits, which runs through April 6th. The show focuses on a Black family, the Jenkins, gathering in a reunion of sorts for the patriarch of their family's funeral. 

The piece starts with Baneatta (Bruni Herring), the deceased's eldest daughter, getting herself ready for the funeral. She becomes flustered and anxious from a phone call before being calmed down by her husband, Reginald (DeJeanette Horne), who is to replace the deceased in his job as the church minister. The two share a tender moment before departing for the funeral. 

The audience is then introduced to Baneatta's sister, Beverly (Brianna Nobles), and niece, La'Trice (Amari Chambers), as they, too, prepare for the funeral. The piece immediately juxtaposes the two sisters—Baneatta is prim and proper, dressed in an instantly recognizable churchgoing outfit, whereas Beverly dons more... creative attire. The exposure of her cleavage is the butt of many jokes, which are initially funny, but get a bit tired. As does the motion she does, perking them up with her hands. Regardless, Nobles' Beverly and Chambers' La'Trice are very funny, their quips and physical comedy are a highlight of the show. With some exposition (the first 15 is very exposition-heavy), the audience learns that Beverly is raising La'Trice by herself, and has no respect for La'Trice's father. We are then introduced to Simone (Sirra Faal), Baneatta's daughter. She doesn't have to dump any of her baggage because the others force it out of her—her husband left her for a white woman. Simone is in many ways the odd one out. She's calm, collected, and adored by Baneatta. We learn later though that this is all due to her internalization of her trauma.

The last two family members introduced are Kenny (Ira F. Coats, JR.), Baneatta's son, and his boyfriend, Logan (Ben Ribler). Logan is incredibly anxious due to the fact that he and Kenny are gay, which Baneatta doesn't approve of, and that he is the only white person attending the funeral. This duo is another comedic highlight—Logan gets the outsider role, the pariah. He's nervous, white, and Jewish. Ribler's timing as the worry wart is perfect. Logan is also a clever device for the show. Not only does he bring about topical themes of queerness and interracial relationships (and their intersection), but he also acts as a proxy. The audience is split in two—those who are familiar with the customs and culture of the Black church, and those who aren't. Audience members from both groups can relate, laugh at themselves, and then at each other. 

Queerness in this show is handled mildly. Homophobia is defeated by love and the release of trauma, which is good to show on stage but expected. There are some trite, though endearing, and relatable sentiments about living in the closet, being an outsider, etc. There were times when the script felt like it needed to remind the audience that "Hey, these two are gay." During a dramatic exchange at the funeral, Kenny calls out "This is better than Drag Race!" which felt a little on the nose. 

The last character introduced, at (and as) the climax, was Brianna (Bianca Lipford), who reveals herself at the funeral as the deceased's daughter from another woman. All fall into shambles as the show transitions to its second part. The structure of the show is tied to its set. The first act, or part, involves scenes in front of the curtain with small groups of the family. Then the curtain opens, and the family is united. Once closed again, scenes become smaller, before once again ending together on the church set. 

The show peaks when the entire cast is together. The first bit of the show with all its 2 and 3-person scenes is a little slow and the performances were still warming up. But once everyone gets together, the show really finds its pace and is pretty consistently funny. The whole affair does verge a bit on the cheesy side, but it is rather endearing, and really a good time. The physical comedy as an ensemble is over the top and old-fashioned fun. Moments come to mind of Beverly falling over on La'Trice in melodramatic mourning, and, strangely enough, in a scene transition when Kenny, closing a curtain, backed it up/hopped to an instrumental of Kendrick Lamar. 

The visual design of the show sticks to a consistent realism, which is the right choice for a piece like this. The main set piece (Jack Golden) is the pulpit and surrounding area of a church. Complete with stained-glass and deep red carpet, the set piece allows the audience to become parishioners, and become fully embedded in the funeral service. The costumes (Imari Pyles) helped build the visual world of the show as well. Everything worn was instantly believable as being chosen by the character wearing it. 

The show admirably tackles many hot-topic issues—religion, eating disorders, adultery, sexuality, single-parent households, race relations, guilt, etc. And while it has something to say about each one of these issues, the run time of the show doesn't necessarily allow for each to be explored equally, or with much weight. For example, in a scene where La'Trice and Simone get acquainted with each other, a conversation is rushed about La'Trice's feelings about her absent father, and his conflict with her mother. She is driven to tears and consoled/concealed by the wise Simone, and then everything is fine, and the issue is not really addressed for the rest of the piece. It's not unpleasant, just a bit quick. However, it is worth noting that the whole point of the show is to present a complicated family, filled to the brim with these issues, as so many families are, so the show focusing more in-depth on fewer topics would not have been preferable. Every conflict is resolved by a big, hopeful family with a capital f. Those squabbling or in conflict with each other talk things through or are given a different perspective from a family member they hadn't considered before. It's a good example of healthy communication when it comes to common tiffs such as these. 

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