Content Warning: The source text and this guide contain descriptions and discussions of racism, race, and Black racial stereotypes.

Beverly is one of the characters in the onstage play, and she is at the center of the preparations for her mother’s birthday dinner. The planning and execution of the party are causing enormous stress for Beverly and no one else, as only Beverly feels an immense pressure to create a perfect event. Beverly never gives a reason as to why perfection is necessary, but it ultimately doesn’t matter, as this drive creates a tidy central action for the onstage family dramady with mayhem arising from humorously predictable complications.

Within the confines of the onstage play—or at least, the part of the onstage play that takes place without interference—Beverly serves as the protagonist. Her pursuit of her objectives drives the action of the play forward, and her central objective is to impose order on her amiably unruly family. This pursuit of order applies to the simple action of making a birthday dinner but also to her daughter’s life and future. Beverly is determined that Keisha must go straight to college after graduation, because that is what Beverly and the other women in the Frasier family did.