the thanksgiving play

The Thanksgiving Play at Playwrights Horizon starts out well enough. After the opening scene before the curtain lifts on what is a good classroom set, (Wilson Chin) the audience is ready for a great show. Clearly, Ms. FastHorse, a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation of South Dakota, is aiming for a takedown of American mythology — white American mythology, that is. This wickedly hilarious satire hurtles into glorious chaos, skewering both its characters’ pretensions and the traditional “Thanksgiving story.” Running time: 1 hour … The Thanksgiving Play gives the characters, and the audience in turn, a safe space to be unsafe, and turn over every stone in the quest for true equity. by Larissa FastHorse. “If you enjoy 'Saturday Night Live,' you will love this production.”, “An enjoyable, challenging, and timely piece.”. Ah, Thanksgiving, that most American of holidays: when families gather to celebrate the warmth of home, the bounty of the harvest — and a legacy of genocide and violent colonial expansion. ADVISORY: The Thanksgiving Play is suitable for adults and teenage audiences. I promise you won’t see it coming. And Ms. FastHorse says that the main obstacle she faces in having her plays about Native Americans produced is that companies find them “uncastable.”. DATES October 18th - November 16th, 2019. While The Thanksgiving Play is a comedy, at its heart it asks us to question our long-held beliefs and why we continue to hold on to them, even when they no longer serve us or the greater good. The creative team includes Wilson Chin (scenic design), Tilly Grimes (costume design), Isabella Byrd (lighting design), Mikaal Sulaiman (sound design), and Katie Ailinger (Production Stage Manager). Scholastic Leadership Mentorship, this is far more than a Thanksgiving play. Heidi Schreck stars in “The Thanksgiving Play” Before I knew it my assistant and I were going word by word through the script, coming up with small but significant changes to place these four familiar characters in a whole new world, so that the audience could be immersed with them instead of having to pretend we weren’t on screen. In “The Thanksgiving Play,” billed as a satire and running at Playwrights Horizons through December 2 (though not on Thanksgiving Day), playwright Larissa FastHorse points to some terrible suggestions: Rewriting the 12 Days of Christmas as the 12 Days of Thanksgiving ("On the first day of Thanksgiving, the natives gave… Noting that all three of them are white — and mindful of the terms of her Go! It's a funny conclusion but just happens. The Thanksgiving Play Forum // Wednesday, November 6 from 6:30-7:45pm. I really believe that if your theatre company…is not in some way engaging with Indigenous peoples, either as art, artists, or communities, you’re morally wrong. Directed by Larissa Lury. "The Thanksgiving Play," a biting new comedy by the Sicangu Lakota playwright Larissa FastHorse, exposes the uselessness of good intentions. The Geffen Playhouse is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) charitable organization. By Dan Meyer. In fact, the four actors are all pretty good in this show. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Opening Night (with reception to follow) - Friday October 18th. No Comments; 0; In this satirical comedy, a mismatched but well-meaning foursome sets out to devise a politically correct school play that can somehow sensitively celebrate both Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month. Nowadays, it seems like you cannot express an opinion without offending or enraging someone. Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the World Premiere of “THE THANKSGIVING PLAY” in 2018 “THE THANKSGIVING PLAY was commissioned and originally produced by Artists Repertory Theatre Damaso Rodriguez, Artistic Director Sarah Horton, Managing Director Portland, Oregon” That isn’t as much of an exaggeration as it seems. Oct 13, 2020 . The Thanksgiving Play The Thanksgiving Play. Ms. Bareilles and Mr. Bean are both expert in letting their characters’ inner turmoil — exactly what they most hide — leak out. The Thanksgiving Play treads the minefields of appropriation to inject some laughter into activism, apathy and all the assumptions in between. Wednesday - Saturday at 8pm, Sunday at 2pm Is it possible for a troupe of all-white teaching artists to create a culturally sensitive pageant to celebrate Native American Heritage Month? Preview - Thursday October 17th. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/11/05/theater/review-thanksgiving-play.html. Also in her sights: cursory diversity initiatives that despite their good intentions impede real progress, particularly in the theater. “Is Lumière a real candlestick?” she asks. It’s November, and thus she’ll put on a Thanksgiving play. The Thanksgiving Play, Playwrights Horizons’ inaugural attempt at producing work by a Native American author (Larissa FastHorse) is like going out on a first date with someone who looks terrific on paper but ultimately falls into the “let’s just be friends” category. In this fast-paced satire by MacArthur Genius Grant recipient Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation), good intentions collide with absurd assumptions, as a troupe of white Liberal teaching artists scramble to devise a grade school theatre performance that somehow … “The Thanksgiving Play” is a clever workaround, written to be performed by an all-white cast and thus to make hay of an absence that would otherwise be a liability. Play spoofs an attempt at creating a Thanksgiving play. A team of terminally woke teaching artists’ good intentions collide with absurd assumptions in this blistering satire. She may not really understand why a Native American is different from a candlestick, but she’s ready to act any scene put before her, especially if she gets to cry. Girls! Larissa FastHorse. Assisting her is her boyfriend, Jaxton (Greg Keller), an actor, yoga dude and “vegan ally” whose gift to Logan on the first day of rehearsal is a Mason jar “made with recycled glass from broken windows in housing projects.” Also contributing is Caden (Jeffrey Bean), a third-grade teacher and frustrated playwright who suggests they open with a scene set 4,000 years ago. Mr. Keller, whose résumé is filled with slackers, bros and skeeves, concocts in Jaxton an artisanal blend of all three: sincere insincerity served in a Mason jar. Larissa FastHorse writes line after line of hilarious dialogue and I would kill to be in this. In Larissa FastHorse’s “ The Thanksgiving Play,” which opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons, the familiar, whitewashed story of Pilgrims and … Logan is a high school drama teacher who loves to push limits. In the opening scene, we’re the audience of a Thanksgiving play … My only complaint is that it seems to end suddenly. Fax: (310) 208-8383 The Thanksgiving Play . When we worry about being politically correct, do we sacrifice saying what we mean? November is when we celebrate Thanksgiving and—not a little ironically—Native American Heritage Month. And, by the way, there’s a lot of inside-theater comedy here, including jokes about dramaturges that may sail past civilians. The renowned Quebec theater director Robert Lepage was recently criticized for “Kanata,” a work about Indigenous Canadians that somehow neglected to include any. From left, Greg Keller, Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles and Jeffrey Bean in “The Thanksgiving Play,” by Larissa FastHorse. [What’s new onstage and off: Sign up for our Theater Update newsletter]. The problem for “The Thanksgiving Play” is that, in splitting its satirical attention, it shortchanges the nominal subject. By Annah Feinberg June 14, 2017 list-2017. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY By: Larissa FastHorse Directed By: Leigh Silverman Starring: Bobby Cannavale, Keanu Reeves, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat Date: March 25th, 2021 at 8:00PM ET Larissa FastHorse’s wickedly funny comedy finds a troupe of terminally “woke” teaching artists scrambling to create a pageant that manages to celebrate both Turkey Day and Native American Heritage Month. Thanksgiving Play' gives the characters, and the audience in turn, a safe space to be unsafe." FastHorse, Larrissa. But November is also Native American Heritage Month, and Logan wants to create a play … And the four who are gathered in “The Thanksgiving Play” are woeful even in the annals of backstage comedies like “The Producers,” “Noises Off” and “Stage Kiss.”. Directed by Producing Artistic Director Bruce DuBose. A roast of the politics of entertainment and well-meaning political correctness alike, The Thanksgiving Play puts the American origin story itself in the comedy-crosshairs. The Thanksgiving Play is terrific in its slaughter of woke white people being annoying as shit. Or perhaps what it means to make is mincemeat: The ridiculous agonizing of the four “teaching artists” produces brutal laughs at the expense of well-meaning liberals who conceal ordinary prejudice under the mask of “performative wokeness.” They want to help but in their fear of offending are the least helpful of all. But Thanksgiving is not the only object of the satire, and to the extent the play sometimes seems to miss its mark, it’s because the mark keeps moving. The Intolerant Left and the Dismissive Right: How Political Correctness Sucks. About Our Forums. Wednesdays through Saturdays at 7:30 pm and Sunday matinees at 2:00 pm. Ready to perform? Subversive, absurd and endearing, The Thanksgiving Play … Industry News The Thanksgiving Play, Dear Elizabeth, More Works by Female Playwrights Set for Spotlight on Plays in Spring 2021. November 8 - December 15, 2019. – Logan (The Thanksgiving Play) Geffen Playhouse has kicked off the holiday season with Larissa Fasthorse’s The Thanksgiving Play , directed by Michael John Garcés. The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse; directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel; cast includes Jennifer Bareilles as Logan; Jeffrey Bean as Caden; Greg Keller as Jaxton; and Margo Seibert as Alicia. It’s only when the play, in a series of skits between scenes, takes off its gloves and aims squarely at its real subject — racism — that the comedy becomes something more salient, if unfunny. The funniest Thanksgiving roast you’ll attend this year. That this aspect of the satire works as well as it does is a credit to the swift pacing of Moritz von Stuelpnagel’s production and the acuity of his casting. Overview. Larissa FastHorse. Executive Producer: Janice Bini & Dean Scarborough. This biting satire contains mature themes and mild adult language about America’s sometimes troubling history. The national narcissism, bordering on sociopathy, that could turn theft and genocide into a feel-good feast is her play’s point of entry. Federal Tax ID Number: 95-4492653. Review: In ‘The Thanksgiving Play,’ Who Gets Roasted? I sometimes had the sour feeling I get when watching hidden-camera videos of people behaving badly; a little goes a long way. While processing that — and trying to deal with the effect the bubble-headed Alicia has on the men — Logan has to figure out whether it’s possible to create a Thanksgiving pageant sensitive to Native American concerns with no Native Americans in the room. The Thanksgiving Play made its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons in 2018 before going on to appear on American Theatre’s list of most produced plays … Its … She’s also trying to restore her reputation after a recent production of “The Iceman Cometh” led 300 parents to sign a petition calling for her firing. The four actors in the play sing a Thanksgiving song and are pretty campy about it. After a series of tortured mental exercises, including improv sessions in a “world of yes,” she ends up reaching the illogical logical conclusion that the only way to honor the erasure of indigenous peoples is by erasing them again. In late October, Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse was among the recipients of a prestigious MacArthur Genius Grant. There will be no performance on Thanksgiving… How will you celebrate Thanksgiving? Logan (Jennifer Bareilles) is a drama teacher hoping to “devise” the best and most culturally sensitive elementary school Thanksgiving pageant ever, one that will honor Native American Heritage Month as well. They include potted history and offensive ditties and, in one case, a suggestion to split the pupils into Pilgrims and Indians “so the Indians can practice sharing.”. Preview Performances 11/6, 11/7 and 11/8 Opening Night Saturday November 9, 2019 In Performance November 6, 2019 – December 1, 2019. By Larissa FastHorse A Dallas Premiere. That was Ms. FastHorse’s dramaturgical trade-off. Learn More. In this pandemic year, the video went live last night and is up through the … The Thanksgiving Play received its world premiere production on April 7, 2018 on the Morrison Stage at Artists Rep. The Thanksgiving Play. Her latest play, The Thanksgiving Play, is currently in development with a number of theatre companies including, recently, Baltimore Center Stage’s Play Lab where this interview took place. https://www.concordtheatricals.com/p/65137/the-thanksgiving-play Just because a target’s too easy doesn’t mean it won’t make a satisfying meal. In Larissa FastHorse’s “The Thanksgiving Play,” which opened on Monday at Playwrights Horizons, the familiar, whitewashed story of Pilgrims and Native Americans chowing down together gets a delicious roasting from expert farceurs. Sign up for our Theater Update newsletter. Take turkeys, or the holiday they stand for. Thanksgiving Play. Of course, theater artists have long been treasured as juicy quarry for satire, with or without the politics. Though the one-note wrangling of the teaching artists is amusing, the absence of characters who could meaningfully oppose their dead-end liberal agenda leaves a hole at the heart of the story. Thanksgiving pageants are also spoofed throughout the play, with the four main actors playing the kids. But Alicia (Margo Seibert) is more of a multipurpose “super-flexible” ethnic type than an actual indigenous person. These skits are selections from actual lesson plans and Pinterest boards posted by teachers to share ideas for classroom Thanksgiving activities. To stage a pageant celebrating Turkey Day, The Thanksgiving Play's "woke" teaching artists must first understand the origins of the holiday. What the four create together is certainly the most uncomfortable, the most unpredictable, and most perfect pageant they can create. The Thanksgiving Play is available to license! But oddly it is Ms. Seibert as the dim Alicia, content to be pretty and confident in her shallow ambition, who delivers the deepest characterization. Scholastic Leadership Mentorship grant — Logan has hired a genuine Los Angeles actor, Alicia, to “lift up” the Native American point of view. Industry Night - Monday, November 4th *There will be a talkback with community partners after every Sunday 2pm performance . The Thanksgiving Play 2021 Directed by Leigh Silverman Larissa FastHorse’s wickedly funny comedy finds a troupe of terminally “woke” teaching artists scrambling to create a pageant that manages to celebrate both Turkey Day and Native American Heritage Month. In Larissa FastHorse’s play, three actors must devise an Still, having been the third Jasmine understudy in “Aladdin” at Disneyland, she doesn’t see what all the fuss is about. The Thanksgiving Play November 19-22, 2020 by Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation) directed by Talya Kingston. Satire doesn’t get much richer than that. Here, a lot goes too far. Among her achievements is "The Thanksgiving Play," now on stage (so to speak) at WAM Theatre, based in Lenox, Massachusetts.. Troubling history a high school drama teacher who loves to push limits FastHorse writes after. 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