A Comedy Within a Satire

The Thanksgiving Play

Four well-meaning people come together in the multipurpose room of an elementary school for a singular purpose: to create a politically correct play for children that tells the story of the First Thanksgiving. The earnest assembly acknowledges that trying to correct the mythology most Americans think of as the first harvest celebration won’t be easy. In the process, they also hope to focus the youngsters’ attention on Native American Heritage Month. The problem is that this quartet of eager theatre folks, who are just trying to do the right thing, are all White. No one has any real connection to the oppression that was experienced by Native Americans, both then and now.

Prolific Playwright and Choreographer Larissa FastHorse is a proud member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation, of South Dakota. Although she’s earned so many awards for her writing, this one-act, her most familiar work, is notable for another reason. THE THANKSGIVING PLAY earned Ms. FastHorse the distinction of being the first female Native American playwright to have a play produced on Broadway. She calls her hilarious play “a comedy within a satire,” and with good reason.

Logan (Steppenwolf’s co-Artistic Director, Audrey Francis) is a conscientious and ambitious director of elementary school plays. Her recent production of THE ICEMAN COMETH, played by

 9-year-old actors, was ultimately shut down by parents and the administration. But through that experience Logan has become inspired to create an honest holiday play, fashioned through the collaboration between two other amateur theatre artists and one professional actress.

In addition to the mutual help provided by Jaxton (Nate Santana), an enthusiastic street performer and Logan’s love interest, and Caden (talented ensemble member Tim Hopper), the school’s nerdy history teacher and an aspiring playwright, Logan has secured a grant to hire a professional actor. She narrowed down her choices to Alicia (Poloma Nozicka, in her Steppenwolf debut), a presumed Native American actress who she hopes will provide some cultural guidance for the play. The problem comes when Alicia arrives and Logan discovers that the actress has only “played” a Native American, among other nationalities and ethnicities. She’s also a little bit of a ditz.

Without an authentic indigenous voice among the cast, the four actors attempt to improvise a short play that will be historically accurate, rewrite the accepted myth of the First Thanksgiving and abide by the strict rules set by the school board. Their earnest attempt to create a play that’s respectful, politically correct and includes authentic Native American themes proves to be fraught with challenges and unimaginable difficulties. In addition, the personalities and emotions of the four creative characters also come into play and really compound the situation. By the end of the 90-minute performance, this group of Woke individuals have learned a lot about what it really takes to be alert to racial prejudice and discrimination. And these characters, along with the audience, will be forever changed.

Directed with insight and imagination, Jess McLeod has brought out the finest performances in this quartet of talented actors. The four actors work together seamlessly, yet each of the characters has his or her own moment to shine in the spotlight. In addition, Ms. McLeod has made great use of the large, ellipsoidal-shaped Ensemble Theater space, as well as each the venue’s four arena entrances. And great work is also provided by Costume Designer, Raquel Adorno, and Scenic Designer, Andrew Boyce, for his sparse set and elaborate properties!

Audrey Francis, who skillfully directed Steppenwolf’s hilarious and irreverent production of POTUS, is terrific as Logan. She creates a smart, sensitive and creative young woman who only wants the best politically correct production possible for her elementary students. Through Ms. Francis’ expert performance, we clearly understand and empathize with this dedicated educational specialist. Logan is so excited by the prospect of improvising an honest depiction of the Thanksgiving Feast, that will both teach and entertain, we can feel all her passion. Logan hopes to create in her actors and young audience an appreciation for every indigenous American. In this, Audrey Francis is unbelievably good.

Lovely, talented newcomer to Steppenwolf, Paloma Nozicka is drop-dead hilarious as Alicia. She truly captures the essence of the “professional” actress who understands and embraces her mental limitations, while savoring the power she wields as an attractive and curvaceous young woman. The scene in which she tries to teach Logan how to become a pretty, more seductive and influential woman is genius. 

Tim Hopper, always a dramatic or comic asset to every production in which he’s appeared, is delightful as geeky elementary history teacher, Caden. Obviously a loner, Mr. Hopper’s Caden touches our collective hearts as a man with no social life, whose entire life only revolves around research, minute historical facts and a secret desire to write plays. As we watch the teacher finally get his chance to live out his dream we can all empathize with that kind of ardor. 

And as Jaxton, Nate Santana, plays a street performer who earns his living from the tips thrown into a coffee can on the corner. Jaxton passionately considers himself to be a “professional” because he makes a meager living through his art. But he’s a dilettante, at best. Mr. Santana portrays a determined and thoughtful young man whose heart is in the right place. He’s a living example of Robert Browning’s quotation, “A man’s reach should exceed his grasp, or what’s a heaven for?”

This funny and unusually shocking production, much like Steppenwolf Theatre’s recent POTUS, is a play that will stick with theatergoers long after the final curtain call. Playwright Larissa FastHorse has written a tantalizing little one-act play that sheds new light on what it means to be Woke, or politically correct. And she’s absolutely correct when describing her 2015 work as being “a comedy within a satire.” Patrons will laugh until they’re hoarse at the antics of the four would-be theatre artists, while Ms. FastHorse humorously examines the lengths to which Americans today will strive to become aware, evolved, conscious, inclusive and politically correct. And I guarantee audiences will remember this play the next time they’re stuffing their Butterball turkey.     

Highly Recommended

Reviewed by Colin Douglas

Presented April 25-June 2 by Steppenwolf Theatre in the Ensemble Theater, 1650 N. Halsted, Chicago.

Tickets are available in person at the box office, by calling Audience Services at 312-335-1650 or by going to www.steppenwolf.org.

Additional information about this and other fine area productions can be found by visiting www.theatreinchicago.com