Devin Sidell, Will Block, Adam Hagenbuch and Ashley Platz (Photo by Zach Mendez)
Reviewed by Philip Brandes
Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic
Through October 22
RECOMMENDED
Devising a 45-minute elementary school pageant for a politically correct celebration of Native American Heritage Month proves a hilarious test of its would-be creators’ woke credentials in The Thanksgiving Play, Larissa Fasthorse’s wickedly satirical take on the persistence of cultural blindness despite (or due to) the best of intentions.
A recent Broadway hit (the first by a Native American playwright), an alternative opportunity to see the is running within striking distance, in an excellent production from Santa Barbara’s Ensemble Theatre Company.
In Fasthorse’s sharply-written one-act, the challenge of creating a show about the origins of Thanksgiving poses particularly high stakes for its hopelessly idealistic director, Logan (Devin Sidell), a beleaguered high school drama teacher whose recent production of The Iceman Cometh performed by 15-year-olds triggered a petition from 300 parents demanding her firing.
The upcoming holiday show represents a last chance at redemption for Logan, but resources are limited. Her production team consists of her boyfriend Jaxton (Adam Hagenbuch), a narcissistic New Age actor/yoga guy who performs at the farmer’s market (“I have a day job, but that’s not what’s important in the story of me”), and Caden (Will Block), a nebbish third grade teacher who dreams of becoming a historian and playwright. Could this be his shot?
In promoting awareness of Native American culture, Logan and her team are committed to a fault; Logan is even willing to set aside her veganism to incorporate turkeys into their show. Only problem is: All three of them are white.
Using fortuitous grant money awarded to promote Native-American Heritage Awareness Through Art, Logan has hired Alicia (Ashley Platz), a professional actress from L.A. whose exotic good looks land her ethnic character roles in Disney theme park shows. Based on Alicia’s Native-American headshot, Logan has brought her in to star in the show and serve as “my cultural compass.”
Naturally, it turns out Alicia is not even a tiny bit Native-American.
“So we’re four white people making a culturally sensitive First Thanksgiving play for Native- American Heritage Month?” Logan wails. “Oh my Goddess!”
In her well-intentioned characters’ clueless pursuit of cultural authenticity, playwright Fasthorse skillfully weaves an increasingly comical tapestry of progressive “post post-racial” platitudes. She also knows her way around the backstage foibles, and petty vanities of the theater (or is it theatre? as one character ponders).
In precise staging by Brian MacDonald, the play’s multi-vectored satire unfolds with unerring focus and manic pacing. Equally effective is each performer’s ability to maintain a sympathetic core that keeps us rooting for their characters despite their absurd excesses.
Fasthorse, a member of the South Dakota Sicangu Lakota nation, enjoys a nationally prominent track record exploring Native-American history, culture, and contemporary experience in a variety of artistic media (including notable community outreach-based collaborations with L.A.’s Cornerstone Theater Company).
It may therefore seem surprising that The Thanksgiving Play lacks any Native-American characters or voices.
Yet herein lies the play’s darker purpose. As the well-intentioned white characters wrap themselves around the solipsistic axles of their own cultural biases, it is the erasure of indigenous people from their awareness that allows the perpetuation of destructive mythologies. This underlying theme is developed between scenes through increasingly disturbing video segments adapted for this production from actual education-focused online content (a Lego Movie-style nursery rhyme featuring turkeys, Native-Americans, and gun-wielding hunters is particularly effective).
The inevitable consequence of this indoctrination manifests in the play itself,
when the characters’ torturous logical conclusion that erased presence is the only genuine equality that gives them license to rehearse a grotesque reenactment of the 1637 Pequot Massacre.
Through its outrageous comedy, The Thanksgiving Play delivers a soberly insightful warning —as long as we fixate on the trappings of multicultural diplomacy and protocol, true understanding doesn’t stand a chance.
Ensemble Theatre Company at The New Vic; 33 W. Victoria Street in Santa Barbara: Wed. & Thurs, 7:30 p.m.; Fri. & Sat., 8 pm; Sun., 2 & 7 pm; https://etcsb.org; Running Time: 1 hour 40 minutes with no intermission.
Correction: An earlier version of this review mistakenly reported that this play was one of the casualties of the Mark Taper Forum’s suspension of programming. A different play by Larissa Fasthorse was a victim of that suspension. The Thanksgiving Play was performed earlier at the Geffen Playhouse.
