Theater: Chicken & Biscuits by Douglas Lyons

At Circle in the Square

Tolstoy once wrote that all happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. Whether the Jenkins family in “Chicken & Biscuits” qualifies as either remains up for debate, but they are watchable. In a Jerry Springer kind of way.

What brings this Black family together in Douglas Lyons’ comedy (@ Circle in the Square) is the death of the paterfamilias, Bernard (or simply “B”). Mourners includes his two warring daughters, the ever proper Beneatta (Cleo King) and her foxy younger sister Beverly (Ebony Marshall-Oliver), the latter attending the funeral in a low-cut dress more suitable for going clubbing than offering condolences.

Beneatta’s son Kenny (Devere Rogers) brings his gay white Jewish boyfriend (Michael Urie) to the service, which confounds the other family members. These include teenage TikTok-er cousin La Trice (Aigner Mizelle) and Beneatta’s daughter Simone (the excellent Alana Raquel Bowers). Stealing the show, however, is Beneatta’s husband Reginald (Broadway star Norm Lewis) the preacher who delivers a eulogy for his father-in-law that has the audience uttering war whoops of laughter.

“Chicken and Biscuits” is in the vein of ethnic family comedies (“My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Gemini”) so what’s going on here is nothing you haven’t seen a million times before. And while the individual star turns sparkle, and such subjects as homophobia and sibling rivalries are touched upon, the play, while cutesy and occasionally LOL, seems draggy. A good director could easily cut it by half an hour.

But what do I know? The audience laughed loud and long throughout the play, so if you need an excuse to do the same, this may be your night out. No widow’s weeds required.