Juicy and Delicious by Lucy Alibar is being presented by Ujima Company and directed by Curtis Lovell. It stars Arjumand Ali, Jess Hall, Yanava Hawkins, Janaé Leonard, Curtis Lovell, Manuel Mejia, Zach Mota, Nahiem Paris, Kupid Patton, Maria Ta, and Emily Yancey.
The show runs from September 17 through September 27, 2026, at Ujima Company’s Lorna C. Hill Theater, 429 Plymouth Ave., Buffalo, NY 14213. For showtimes, tickets, and more information, call 716-322-5178 or visit ujimacoinc.org.
THUMBNAIL SKETCH
Juicy and Delicious is a magical-realist one-act play by Lucy Alibar that inspired the 2012 film Beasts of the Southern Wild. It is about a young Southern child named Hushpuppy, who lives in a small community on an island in the Louisiana bayou called the “Bathtub.” She is coping with the terminal illness of her father, Daddy, who thinks the Bathtub is the most beautiful place in the whole world.
In the rustic community schoolhouse, Miss Bathsheba teaches the children about prehistoric creatures she calls aurochs, portrayed as giant, horned, boar-like creatures. As Hushpuppy’s father grows sicker, the surrounding universe begins to fracture, bringing apocalyptic weather, ghosts, and ancient ice beasts that force Hushpuppy to prepare for a world without her dad.
RUNTIME
Approximately one hour and 15 minutes, with no intermission.
THE PLAY, THE PLAYERS, AND THE PRODUCTION
Lucy Alibar’s tightly written Juicy and Delicious was completely new to me. I had never seen the film it inspired, nor did I know about the various readings and few productions of the play.
Under the careful and loving hand of director Curtis Lovell, I found the play to be deeply tender, poetically mythical, and ultimately bittersweet. Lovell is also the set designer, and his simple yet effective aesthetic, paired with Kyra-Jade Bogdan’s beautiful lighting and Thomas Makar’s sound and thoughtful projections, creates a hot, swampy, magical, and mystical atmosphere. Adding to the storytelling are Diane Almeter Jones’s exquisite props.
The play wrestles with several key elements: family, community, poverty, loss, survival, the environment, and the end of the world.
Janaé Leonard as Hushpuppy is nothing short of spectacular. Leonard is equally at home in both musicals and plays, and she is slowly building a most impressive résumé, with previous standout performances in Goodnight, Tyler, Bite Me, Crowns, Rent, Head Over Heels, Waitress, and Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, to mention just a few.
Leonard has a natural stage presence and illuminates her performance as Hushpuppy with her ability to channel her inner child while maintaining the character’s fierceness and emotional depth. There is such authenticity to her performance as she easily anchors the play with complexity, profound vulnerability, defiance, and wisdom. Leonard is one of the finest young working actors Western New York has to offer, and she would be an asset to any show in which she is cast.
Emily Yancey plays the sassy warrior-teacher Miss Bathsheba with ferocity and a genuine, lived-in quality. You feel that she has experienced a great deal during her time in the dog-eat-dog environment of the Bathtub. She instills in her students and the other inhabitants of the Bathtub the belief that they must stick together as a community to survive the approaching storm.
Yancey’s Bathsheba has big, expressive eyes, a strong, powerful voice, and a brave physicality that serves the character well. She teaches the children that they are part of the natural order, using analogies about their place in the food chain while preaching resilience. Ultimately, Hushpuppy is deeply influenced by her teacher’s lessons about the aurochs and survival as she faces her own fears and her ever-changing place in the world.
Zach Mota plays the mostly grumpy and weary Daddy, Hushpuppy’s ailing father. He gives an intense performance and provides the perfect counterpoint to Leonard’s wide-eyed Hushpuppy. Mota, who is a newcomer to the Western New York theatre scene, has a handsome intensity and commanding stage presence as he barks and yelps his way through the play. I look forward to seeing him in more productions in the future.
The enchanting Maria Ta plays several roles, most notably a sweet-talking stripper whom Hushpuppy encounters when she ventures to Elysian Fields, a floating, waterside, juke-joint-style brothel. Ta’s character is more like an affectionate aunt or surrogate mother than a crude or exploitative sex worker. It is a lovely scene, and she is distinctly warm and maternal, which suits her well.
Rounding out the cast are the talented Jess Hall as Joy, who is exuberant and a tad scary, and Manuel Mejia as Birfday Cake, who elicits empathy. They play two of the students in Miss Bathsheba’s class alongside Hushpuppy.
The lively and talented ensemble also features an athletic, dynamic foursome who portray the menacing aurochs, among other roles: Yanava Hawkins, Arjumand Ali, Kupid Patton, and Nahiem Paris. Bravo.
One could assume that this play would be a downer because of the circumstances Hushpuppy must face. However, through the lens of Leonard’s portrayal, you feel the character’s resourcefulness and unflappable heart. A majestic quality emerges as her journey continues.
It is an energetic romp through a well-rounded and thoroughly consistent fantastical world, where strange beasts awaken from the ice caps and a young girl learns to face the world and her greatest challenge yet.
There is a powerful message here. As Hushpuppy embarks on her own, Daddy and Bathsheba have already given her everything she needs to survive in the world without him: an understanding of the interconnectedness of all life in the universe and the will to survive.