Ah…autumn: the season of going over the river and through the woods to grandmother’s house where we over-consume the Thanksgiving feast in memory of our white ancestors’ magnanimous appreciation of the 17th century Native Americans who saved them from perishing upon their arrival in the New World. But - wait a minute - haven’t historians been challenging that idyllic reverie of times past? Indeed, they have and nowhere is it more satirically presented than The Black Box Theatre’s current production of The Thanksgiving Play by Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse here directed by Alexander Richardson.
As Richardson states in his program notes, “Even when you start discussing the ‘agreed upon’ history of Thanksgiving, you’ll find debate. History is written by the conquerors and much of the widely accepted history has been sanitized of its atrocities.”
The main ideas explored in The Thanksgiving Play involve the attempt of an all-white cast to create a respectful and politically correct Thanksgiving play that includes Native American themes. In the play, white characters take on the task of writing and producing a play about Native Americans without consulting them directly, highlighting the complexities and impossibilities of the endeavor.
The play has four characters: Logan, a high school drama teacher who is desperate to save her job by creating a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving play for elementary school students; Caden, an over-zealous elementary school history teacher and aspiring playwright hired to provide historical accuracy; Jaxton, Logan’s yoga instructor boyfriend who is overly concerned with political correctness; and, Alicia, a somewhat air-headed professional actress whose head shot photo misleads Logan to assume she’s a Native American and hires her to provide the indigenous perspective…except she’s not. What ensues is these characters’ hysterical attempt to collaborate and come up with a so-called “acceptable” script.
The play sheds light on issues such as the under-representation of indigenous actors, misguided attempts to represent Native Americans in American society, the presumption of a homogenous Native American identity instead of recognizing diverse tribal identities, and other challenges faced by indigenous people in America. The great thing is that it’s done with humor that allows us to laugh not only at the performance but also at what may be our own stumbling attempts to navigate the precarious subject.
Taking on this raucous script are four of the Quad Cities best actors. Adrienne Evans brings her manic best as the angst-ridden Logan whose abject fear paralyzes any progress. Her performance is high-voltage energy. Thayne Lamb as Jaxton is SO-O-O-O over the top politically correct I just wanted to shake him – but only in the best possible sense; his Jaxton really needs to come up for air. Cole McFarren nails the history teacher, Caden. He somehow manages to frustrate us while at the same time elicits sympathy for just how incredibly clueless he is. And Celeaciya Olvera as Alicia, the disinterested actress, is perfectly disengaged from the chaos surrounding her and the only one who is truly in touch with who she is.
Lora Adams’ set is one of the best she’s designed. I’ve been in a lot of elementary school classrooms and it perfectly captures that vibe even though the program states it takes place in a high school drama classroom, I’m pretty sure the script supports it being set in elementary school.
While this show doesn’t take you to grandma’s house it WILL entertain you and you just might start thinking a little differently about the history of Thanksgiving.
The Thanksgiving Play continues at The Black Box Theatre, 1623 5th Avenue in Moline, through November 1. Check their website for dates, times and tickets.
I’m Chris Hicks…break a leg.