STEW

About the show

The plot centers on the Tucker family, three generations of women grappling with their personal choices. Characters include Mama, the family matriarch, Nelly, a 17-year-old who lives with Mama, Mama's 30-something daughter Lillian, who is visiting with her preteen daughter Li'l Mama and her son Junior, who does not appear in the play. It takes place in Mama's kitchen. Mama is making a stew for a church event later in the day that is very important to her, and the rest of the family is helping or keeping her company in the kitchen. The women are all stressed for various reasons—Mama because of the event and her health issues, Lillian because she is having marital issues, and Nelly because she is pregnant—and they bicker, sometimes comically. A loud bang is heard outside the house while all but Mama are sleeping, and Lillian, Nelly, and Li'l Mama run outside, concerned about Junior, while Mama, still inside stirring her pot, resigns herself to the worst. The play ends with the audience believing he has been shot.