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Regional Reviews: Phoenix Coffee Mixed with Cream Also see Gil's reviews of Spinning into Butter, Catch Me If You Can and The Prom
The plot centers on Daniel, a bi-racial, struggling playwright facing the pressure of opening his latest work. What should be an exciting professional milestone quickly becomes an overwhelming experience. His girlfriend, friends, and family mean well, but their attempts to support him only add to the mounting stress as opening night approaches. When the play unexpectedly becomes a hit, Daniel discovers that success brings its own complications, forcing him to confront questions about his identity, his race, and his relationships that he has been avoiding. The biggest of these relationship challenges is between Daniel and his somewhat absent father, Tarig. Being bi-racial and mainly raised by his white mother, Andrea, Daniel says that he feels like he was raised on the outskirts of his heritage. When his father says he's a sell out for writing a play about slavery that kowtows to the white audience of the theatre company presenting the piece, Daniel pointedly apologies that he's sorry he's not black enough for his father. Matthews uses his past experiences to explore several themes that give Coffee Mixed with Cream greater substance than a typical backstage or family drama. While the plot of the drama is fiction, Matthews has said the piece is semi-autobiographical and that the feelings and themes in the play, especially about race, are taken from his real life. At its heart, the play is an examination of identity and the ways one's racial and cultural background, along with other people's expectations, can influence how we see ourselves. The play also thoughtfully explores biracial relationships and the complicated process of reconciling different parts of one's identity. While there are some heavy themes in the piece, and Matthews' writing of that emotional material is excellent, he also maintains a humorous and entertaining tone throughout that makes the drama incredibly accessible. Under Gil Berry's assured direction, the cast brought realism to the material, creating Matthews' recognizable characters with charm and making them feel authentic rather than archetypes. Tiana Torrilhon-Wood's set design was simple, with the use of a few moving flats that quickly and effectively moved us from one location to the next, and Berry's staging was appropriately intimate, keeping the focus on the characters and their relationships. Peyton Christopher McLead effectively captured Daniel's mixture of ambition, insecurity, frustration, and vulnerability, making his emotional journey easy to follow and empathize with. The play begins with Daniel speaking to the audience and saying that he's putting his fears on the stage and from McLead's confident portrayal we got a perfect understanding of Daniel's spiraling, anxiety, and nervousness as well as his worried demeanor. McLead's relationship with the other actors in the cast was authentic and realistic and his connection with the audience made us empathize with him and want to see him succeed while also hoping that he could overcome the kinks in his relationships with those around him. It was a layered and well thought out portrayal of a nuanced and complicated young man. As Andrea, Daniel's girlfriend, Aurora Howard's performance was refined and warm, allowing the audience to fully understand the obstacles she faced and hopeful that she'd be able to overcome them. As Daniel's parents, Courtney Jacobs and Raheem De'Angelo were both excellent. They delivered lived-in portrayals that allowed us to see the fractured past they'd faced in their own relationship as well as the different parental connections with Daniel. Heather Moore was matter-of-fact as the artistic director of the theatre company presenting Daniel's play, and Taylor Ervin was bright and funny as a TV anchor. Coffee Mixed with Cream is an especially promising introduction to Elias Matthews' voice as a playwright. "If you can make them laugh, you can make them listen" is a key line in the play that also carries over to this well-cast and smartly directed production: Matthews has made us laugh, understand the feelings and thoughts of characters that we may not have been exposed to before or not have taken a moment to comprehend previously, and thereby, listen. Coffee Mixed with Cream ran August 21-30, 2026, at Fountain Hills Theater, 11445 N. Saguaro Blvd., Fountain Hills AZ. For more information, visit www.fhtaz.org. Director: Gil Berry Cast: (in alphabetical order): |
