Fairview

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

Onstage, the Frasier family’s action is centered on food and the significance of the family meal. As Beverly tells Dayton, “Family is everything” (10), implying that at the dinner table, the family members must set their differences aside. However, the chaos of the preparations demonstrates that intentions do not always become reality. From the start of Act I, Beverly is stressed by her own determination that the meal must be perfect, and her act of peeling real carrots becomes an important distinction as the play progresses. These carrots take an inordinate amount of time to peel and act as a form of performative busy work to represent the act of cooking. They also stand as a pointedly authentic version of food that contrasts sharply with the increasingly fake and flamboyant stage props that crowd the dinner table in Act II, when the four voices impose their racist misconceptions on the narrative.

Throughout the play, food and drink also represent the family’s social and financial status, and their consumption of wine and bottled beer suggests that the Frasiers are more bourgeois than working-class.