An exciting new play will grace the stage of the theatre department as they prepare for their second show of the semester, “Chicken and Biscuits.”

The play will take place on Nov. 1-2 at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 5-9 at 2 p.m. in the Dennis and Cheryl Woods Theatre at Fresno State.

Doors for the play open 30 minutes before curtain drops.

Parking is free on the weekend shows (Friday-Sunday), but during the week (Tuesday-Thursday), guests have to pay for parking permits which they can get as various dispensers in the parking lots.

“‘Chicken & Biscuits’ is a celebration of family, love and the beautiful chaos that comes with it,” said director Thomas-Whit Ellis.

As rivaling sisters Baneatta and Beverly bury their father, they struggle not to provoke one another.

Hopes of peace are short-lived when Beverly shows up at the chapel, and Baneatta’s son brings his Jewish boyfriend that Baneatta disapproves of. At the same time, Beverly’s daughter becomes nosy, asking questions no one cares to answer.

A family secret reveals itself and both sisters have to face the truth that could either mend their relationship or break them apart completely.

The production features performances from Danay Ferguson, Teresa Gipson, LaTonia Hayes, Justice P., Terell Morris, Ananda Shaffer, Mitchell Shaw and LeVetta Wheeler.

Putting on the play was a well-organized operation for the department, with all hands on deck to get ready for opening night after weeks of rehearsal and production.

“Being a part of the production process has just been very smooth,” said Terell Morris, who plays the character of Kenny Mabry. “The cast dynamic and everybody is just head on and they are really working to make this the best show that we can make, and make it as honest and clear for the audience to see.”

Kenny Mabry is the younger brother of Simmone Mabry, and is the son of a pastor. Better known as a Preacher’s Kid(PK), which Morris used to describe the character, Kenny is known as the black sheep of the family because he is gay.

Morris, although not part of the LGBTQ+ community, still has a connection to Kenny because of the similar ways in which he was brought up by his father who was a pastor.

“I relate to him in the sense that I am a preacher’s kid and I was born and raised in church,” Morris said.

Finding ways to get into character is a challenge for some, but for Morris it was an easy task.

“I created a playlist for my character,” said Morris. “On the way to rehearsals, when I am driving, I just start listening to the gospel music and that kind of stuff.”

He added that because the character of Kenny is a thespian, he listens to thespian music as well to put him into the same head space as Kenny, but off stage he can still remain Terell.

The connection Morris felt made it easier to be in tune with the character, but at the same time, he wasn’t always the black sheep in his family. Instead opting to feel a connection with Kenny through feelings of being isolated or excluded, Morris added.

Simmone Mabry, played by Shaffer, is like many other young women who have experienced loss, heartbreak, family conflict, personal identity conflict, said Shaffer when speaking about the character.

“This is a character that is probably not going to rub in the most pleasant way, but beneath all of her, I guess you can say her attitude is a lot of hurt,” Shaffer said.

The character Simmone has a lot of built up anger and sadness, but she is simply a young woman who has had her fair share of life.

Shaffer also expresses feelings of connection to the material that is given from the character Simmone, however feeling entirely separate from the character.

“I do in some ways, not in its entirety as far as the character description goes, but I think I definitely do relate to her,” said Shaffer.

Even if feeling separate from the character, Shaffer can get a sense of the character’s feelings of being inadequate and having that feeling of not being enough that everyone can relate to.

Shaffer added that the play was something she knew nothing about and was reached out by the director of the play and was hesitant almost to be in the audition process.

“If I am being quite honest, I wasn’t going to cause my hands were already tied with other commitments,” Shaffer said.

She added that she looked at the script and realized that even if hesitant she could do something with the script and that it could help her more than she thinks.

“I guess a little bit more of hope after reading the script and deciding that I think this would be good so I just went ahead and went for it,” Shaffer said.

A lasting thought the Shaffer left was her pride in the play so far and wanting to see a positive outcome on the play and all of its entirety.

“I hope for a very touching outcome,” said Shaffer. “This show is confrontational in a lot of different ways, it confronts religion, sexuality, tradition, standards of what love should be, what love should not be, of what death should bring upon a family and what death shouldn’t bring upon a family, so I hope to see and I hope to hear a lot of feedback.”