Chris Sullivan and Scott Foley in The Thanksgiving Play. (Photo: Joan Marcus)

 

The Thanksgiving Play

By Lydia Keidel

The Thanksgiving Play, a satirical comedy now running at Second Stage Theatre, tries to debunk many of the myths about the origin of Thanksgiving while attacking misguided political correctness. The result is a very funny play that uses humor to teach - both to impart knowledge regarding Native Americans and to highlight hypocrisies in our attitudes.

By far, the most central and influential figure in this offering is the playwright herself, Larissa Fasthorse. Fasthorse is a half Native American (Sicangu Lakota Nation) playwright and activist. In 2015, she was awarded a fellowship which allowed her to go to Tyrone Guthrie’s estate in Ireland. While on retreat there, she wrote the bulk of The Thanksgiving Play in only ten days. She has since been awarded a MacArthur fellowship.

The Thanksgiving Play mocks what Fasthorse calls “performative wokeness”. It holds a mirror up to a certain segment of society. Simultaneously, it informs the audience with facts about indigenous people. When Fasthorse was growing up, she says, her Thanksgivings had nothing to do with Pilgrims and Indians. It was about “food, gratitude, family and Fall.” So, The Thanksgiving Play is an exaggerated allegory with an agenda.

 

In The Thanksgiving Play, four well-meaning white people collaborate to write a non-offensive, non-racist, inclusive play for elementary school kids about the holiday’s origin and traditions. Ironically, the process is riddled with racism and prejudices.

 

D'Arcy Carden, Chris Sullivan, Katie Finneran, Scott Foley in 'The Thanksgiving Play' (Photo: Joan Marcus)

 

The play’s characters flounder through this process. Logan (Tony-winner Katie Finneran) is a teacher trying to save her job using grant money to create this unbiased production. She is obsessed about it being a team effort, and that it should include an indigenous person’s point of view, even though there is no indigenous person involved in the project.

Showing off his incredible comedic chops, Chris Sullivan bites into his character, Caden, a fellow teacher and would-be playwright who fights for historical accuracy.

Scott Foley is totally chill, man, as Jaxton, the progressive surfer dude type, with good intentions, who gets it all wrong. Jaxton thinks he’s evolved but his circular thinking always brings him back to being the center of his own universe. After pondering others’ plights, he concludes, “I’m a straight. White. Male. It’s an endless minefield.”

D’arcy Carden, making her Broadway debut, plays the last of the participants for this inclusive team: Alicia, an actress comfortable in her skin. Although she is hired to be the voice of Native Americans, there was a misunderstanding -- fact, she is not Native American.

Hiding behind humor, The Thanksgiving Play is meant to be thought provoking. There are a few cringeworthy moments followed by uncomfortable laughter, but mostly genuine hearty laughter.

D’Arcy Carden and Katie Finneran in The Thanksgiving Play. (Photo: Joan Marcus)

The set (design by Riccardo Hernandez) is jam packed, distractingly so. Lots of stuff. Everywhere. Props supervisor Andrew Diaz certainly has his work cut out for him, and I’m guessing it takes hours for the stagehands to reset every night. As with everything about this show, costumes (Lux Haac) were created to elicit a strong reaction. Some were extreme but I believe that was the intent.

Director Rachel Chavkin, who is a three-time Obie winner and won a Tony for her work on Hadestown, is known for her own work with a consensus-driven, collective style writing process —which suits The Thanksgiving Play perfectly. .

The Thanksgiving Play premiered off Broadway in 2018 at Playwrights Horizons and has been produced all over the United States before moving to Broadway.
Its new life at Second Stage runs through June 4, 2023

The Thanksgiving Play

At The Hayes Theater, 240 West 44th St. New York, NY 

Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays @ 7pm; Fridays @ 8pm;
Saturdays @ 2pm & 8pm;
Sundays @ 3pm

Tickets $49 - $109 https://cart.2st.com/events