Chicken & Biscuits

Micah Brown (La’Trice) is a second-year in the BFA Acting program and this is her Theater UCF debut. She has been seen on the Project Spotlight stage in Team Spirit (Isabel) and worked as a Stage Manager in the Project Spotlight production of Shaken, On The Rocks.

Ciara Elliott (Simone Mabry) is a senior in the BFA Acting program. She has been seen on the Theatre UCF stage in Fabulation, or the Re-Education of Undine (Grandma/Ensemble) and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Young Inna/Ensemble). Her other credits include Surviving the Storm (Trina Kingsbury), Aida (Nubian Slave) and The Soul of a Woman (Vocalist). This is her third Theatre UCF production. ciara-elliott.com

Joey Fields (U/S Logan) is a first-year transfer in the BFA Acting program. This is Joey's Theatre UCF debut. Other theatre credits include Rodgers and Hammerstein's Cinderella (Sabastian) and The Lesson (The Professor). He is also involved in Project Spotlight.

Dominique Marshall (Beverly) is a second-year in UCF’s MFA Acting Program. She was most recently in Pegasus Playlab’s Summertime Interlude (Kyri), other Theatre UCF roles include UCF’s The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Emmanuele Giri) and The Interference (Reporter/ Marcie). Prior to UCF she played (June) in HWS Colleges’ theater production of Marisol and abroad through U.E.A., U.K. she played (Dirk Gently) in Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency. Some other HWS credits include: Isle of Slaves (Arlequin), (Older Quan/Woman) The Breach, (Sarah) Love/Sick and (assistant Stage Manager) for Aria De Capo and Servant of Two Masters.

Olamide Oladeji (Baneatta Mabry) is a second-year in the MFA Acting program. She was most recently seen in Theatre UCF’s production of Bite Me. Other theatre credits include The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui and Love and Information. Olamide received her Bachelor’s in Acting from the University of Texas at Arlington.

Jake Perez (Logan) is a first-year BFA acting student. He was last seen in Theatre UCF’s Home of the Brave (Marcus) and As You Like It (William/Jake). Previous credits include Exhibits in the Zoo (Mendel), Snoopy (Woodstock), All the Great Books Abridged (Student Helper), The Crucible (Hale), and Catch Me if you Can (Hanratty).

Gabriela Phillips (Brianna) is a third-year student in the BFA Acting major. Previous credits include Pegasus Playlab’s Race to Infinity (Lucia) and Orlando Shakes production of A Big Day for Baseball: A Magic Treehouse Adventure (U/S Olive). @gabyphillipss

Phoenix (Kenny) is a first-year transfer in the BFA acting program. He has done various Project Spotlight productions.

Sienna Weir (U/S Baneatta, U/S Beverly, U/S La’Trice, U/S Simone, U/S Brianna) is a Junior in the BFA Musical Theatre program. Her recent theatre credits include UCF’s production of Working as a member of the ensemble and as “Frieda” in “Sunday In The Park With George" at Titusville Playhouse. She currently has an internship with Stageworks Tampa and has experience ushering with Plant City Entertainment.

Donna Bess (Props Manager) is a transfer student from Valencia and is a senior in the BFA Design Tech Program with a focus on props.  Her work can be seen in the following UCF shows: Working, First Date, Affinity Lunch Minutes and The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui.

Taylor Bray (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year transfer student in the BFA Stage Management program. Their previous Theatre UCF credits include UCF Celebrates the Arts 2023 (Company Manager), TECH-nique (Lighting Designer), Working (Assistant Stage Manager) and The Wolves (Production Assistant). They just finished an apprenticeship with the Glimmerglass Festival (Company Management Apprentice).

Sam Cutshall (Sound Designer) is a Senior in the BFA Theater Design & Technology program. Previous Theatre UCF credits include Brightstar (Production Electrician) and Working (A2).

Gabriel Deck (Show Crew) is a senior in the B.A. Media Management and Production program. Since 2018, Gabriel has held theatre close to his heart. In his two years of enrollment at Florida Gulf Coast University, he performed in shows such as Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind (Player) Check Please (Guy) The Addams Family Musical (Uncle Fester) The Other Room (Austin) and Mystery Cycles (Son #2 Peter Tree of Knowledge).

Ryan DeVane (Automation/Turntable Carpenter) is a Sophomore in the BFA Design & Tech program. He has also worked on the Theatre UCF set of The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Fly Rail). This is his second Theatre UCF production and plans to bring the experience he gains here to a future in Off Broadway set/prop design.

Brandon Diaz (Costume Crew) is a Fourth Year in the BFA Musical Theatre program. Most recently Brandon has worked as a performer under RWS Entertainment Group as the character “Artie the Artist in Residence” at Santa’s Village. Some Theatre UCF credits Brandon has includes Bright Star (Ensemble, U/S Max), Shrek the Musical (Young Shrek, Grumpy Dwarf, Rat Tapper), and First Date (Male Swing). He was also seen at the Dr. Phillips Center in Chicago the Musical as Ensemble and Judge. brandonldiaz.com

Loganne Digma (Deck Crew) is a junior is in the B.A Theatre Studies program. She has worked Theatre UCF productions such as Indecent (House Crew) and The Interference (House Crew). LoganneDigma.com

Michael Ghysels (Assistant Stage Manager) is a third-year transfer student in the BFA Stage Management Program. His UCF credits include Welcome to the Moon (Production Assistant) Indecent, The Resistible Rise of Arturo Ui (Assistant Stage Manager), UCF Celebrates the Arts ’22-‘23. Prior to UCF, his credits include Clybourne Park (Stage Manager), Hand to God (Stage Manager), Significant Other (Assistant Stage Manager), and A Christmas Story (Assistant Stage Manager).

Conner Harper (Wardrobe) is a first year in the theatre pending program. This is his first time on a theatre production at UCF.

Sabrina Henson-Matheny (Deck Crew) is a second year in the BFA Acting program. Her previous Theatre UCF credits include As You Like It (Musician, U/S LeBeau, U/S Audrey) and The Wolves (U/S #46). Other previous credits include Little Women (Beth) and A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Puck).

Rosalind Krabill (Wardrobe Crew) is a Senior in the BFA Acting program. They were last seen in Theatre UCF’s production of The Interference (Karen’s Lawyer, Cultural Commentator) as well as Indecent (U/S Chana) and Welcome to the Moon (U/S Mary). This summer, Rosalind co-produced, co-directed, and starred in The Taming of the Shrew (Petruchio) and previously was in See Rock City (May). rosalindloren.com

Izzie McKenzie (Light Board Operator) is a junior in Theatre Studies who has worked on and off the stage, involved in stage productions during her time at the University of Manchester as well as Theatre UCF, such as Summertime: An Interlude (Trigg) for Pegasus PlayLab.

Maddie Moore (Show Crew) is a freshman in the BFA musical theatre program. Some of her professional theatre credits include 9 to 5 the Musical (Kathy), The Little Mermaid (Allana) and The Bridges of Madison County (Carolyn). @maddiemoore._

Bridgett Rojas (Production Stage Manager) is in her final year of the BFA Stage Management program. Her previous Theatre UCF credits include Orlando Family Stage’s Youth Academy: Magic Treehouse: A Ghost Tale for Mr. Dickens Jr (Production Assistant), Fabulation or the Re-Education of Undine (Production Assistant), Spells of the Sea (Assistant Stage Manager), Working (Assistant Stage Manager), and Bright Star (Assistant Stage Manager). @_xxbridgettxx_

Pooja Singh (Assistant Director) is a third-year student in the B.A. Theatre Studies Program. Other credits include Bright Star with Theatre UCF and Apocaplypseville! The Musical with Project Spotlight and at the Orlando Fringe Festival.

Sonya Smith-Tembe (Assistant Scenic Designer) is a Junior in the BFA Theater Design & Technology program. Previous Theatre UCF credits include As You Like It (Assistant Paint Charge) and Brightstar (Props Artisan).

Luis Williams (Assistant Stage Manager) is a second-year BFA Stage Manager. UCF Theatre Credits include: Working (Spotlight Operator), Home of the Brave (Production Assistant) and Summer 23’ Pegassus Playlab’s Go like Saints (Assistant Stage Manager).

Ayana Yokie (Lighting Programmer) is a fourth-year BFA Stage Manager. She is currently the Assistant Stage Manager for Metamorphoses. Previous Theatre UCF credits include UCF Celebrates the Arts 2023 (PSM), Home of the Brave (ASM), Welcome to the Moon (PSM), Sombra Del Sol (ASM) and UCF Celebrates the Arts 2021 & 2022 (Stage Manager). Last season she worked as a Stage Manager for Orlando Shakes’ Playfest. @ayanayokie

I see Chicken & Biscuits as a movement that is giving a breath of fresh air and new energy to a generation that can come out and see themselves as happy as they are in their actual life, not just as the theater has portrayed them to be.

- Douglas Lyons, playwright

Set in St. Luke’s Episcopal Church of New Haven, Connecticut, Chicken & Biscuits is all about the vibrant personalities of the Mabry-Jenkins family who come together to honor the life of their family patriarch. The playwright Douglas Lyons has based these characters – loud and timid, stern and genial, unapologetically themselves and still unsure – on his own experiences with people from his own church. Chicken & Biscuits is a celebration of real people’s lives during a time of grief, which was sorely needed at the time when the show originally opened in 2021.

In that year, according to the American Psychological Association, the COVID-19 pandemic increased the prevalence of loneliness by about 5% worldwide – a small, but incredibly impactful number. In October, just after Broadway tentatively started opening its doors again, Lyons’s Chicken & Biscuits made its debut at Broadway’s Circle in the Square Theatre. This play exudes the exact opposite of the bleak pandemic loneliness that was prevalent when the show opened. At the time, Chicken & Biscuits was the perfect reminder that we are not alone. Today, it continues to be an appreciation of togetherness, both through the family on stage and the strangers sitting around you in this very theater.

Why Chicken & Biscuits? Both are staples of soul food, a cuisine that came around through the combination of meager rations given to enslaved African people and African cooking methods and traditions. True to its name, soul food is indeed good for the soul, as today it is associated with comfort and decadence despite its humble beginnings.

Chicken & Biscuits is ‘soul food’ in many ways. This play is about bringing people together, feeling love, and appreciating family for all the good and bad that comes with it. It is a celebration of Black culture, and specifically of dynamic Black women. The play explores what it means to hurt inside – because of secrets, because of familial tension – and what it means to be a family. Finally, just as they were when this play was written, the joy, love, and laughter of this play are always relevant.

That being said, dig in!

- Rotem Miara, Dramaturg