photo by: Theatre Lawrence

Cast members Kiley Luckett, from left, JoAnna Marks and Gladys Demby rehearse "Chicken and Biscuits" at Theatre Lawrence.

A death in the family has a way of revealing secrets — not just about the deceased, who is no longer there to conceal them, but also about those who are gathered to mourn.

The drama of revelation can be intense, but it can also be comical as people make self-discoveries, see others in a new light and adapt to an evolving family landscape.

That’s the energy behind “Chicken and Biscuits,” if you ask Darren Canady, who’s directing the Douglas Lyons play for Theatre Lawrence.

photo by: Theatre Lawrence

The cast of “Chicken and Biscuits” rehearses at Theatre Lawrence.

The play, named for the classic soul food dish, is set at the Connecticut funeral of a pastor. The traditional homegoing for the Black patriarch brings his relatives together to “collide and bounce off each other,” as Canady puts it, under the “blanket” of family, which can be simultaneously comforting and suffocating.

Among the eight characters, including the pastor’s dissimilar daughters, secrets aplenty come to the surface, both carefully hidden secrets and open but unacknowledged ones — like the gay grandson attending the service with his white, Jewish boyfriend. Cultural differences along with generational, moral and socioeconomic differences simmer together in a bubbling familial stew.

photo by: Theatre Lawrence

Danny Woods. left, and Colton Smith rehearse “Chicken and Biscuits” at Theatre Lawrence.

Lyons, whose play had a New York run in 2021 and has become a community theater staple, intended the work to do a lot of things, Canady says, “but one of the key things is to celebrate the work, the importance, the vibrancy, the love and the sexuality of Black women.”

The play’s central conflict is between two Black women: rival siblings Baneatta and Beverly, who have lived different lives with different values. With those elements, “you could tell a story about a family falling apart, but this play instead uses those elements to talk about how a family can fix old wounds,” Canady says.

The last show Canady directed at Theatre Lawrence was the jukebox musical “Priscilla, Queen of the Desert,” which, albeit in the wildly different setting of the Australian Outback, shares the similar themes of what it means to belong to a family and to achieve self-acceptance.

“This play in its climax asks us to think about how our mental health interacts with our spiritual health and how much trying to hold a family together and put on appearances can keep us from feeling completely free,” he said.

“Chicken and Biscuits” opens on Friday at Theatre Lawrence, 4660 Bauer Farm Drive, and will have multiple performances through March 16. For information about tickets, call 785-843-SHOW (7469) or go online at theatrelawrence.com.

Theatre Lawrence will wrap up its current season with the whodunit “Clue: On Stage,” opening at the end of April, and the musical “Jimmy Buffett’s Escape to Margaritaville,” opening in June. The lineup for the next season will be announced on Monday.

photo by: Courtesy of Theatre Lawrence

Darren Canady