Satire is a dish served hot in Steppenwolf's The Thanksgiving Play
The Thanksgiving Play
THEATRE REVIEW
By Rudy S.
Headliner Chicago
THEATRE REVIEW
By Rudy S.
Headliner Chicago
The Thanksgiving Play is a hilarious and thought-provoking satire currently playing at Steppenwolf Theatre. Larissa FastHorse's play has been performed on stages since 2018, but it's finally making its regional debut in Chicago. In the show, four well-meaning theater people work together on bringing a stage production about Thanksgiving to elementary school children.
Photo courtesy of Michael Brosilow
At the start, we see Logan (Audrey Francis) set the tone for the children's production wanting to make it a collaborative process, holding space for voices not in the room, and making sure no one gets offended in the process. Easier said than done! We then get to see the dynamic between Jaxton (Nate Santana) a Farmers Market street performer, yogi and Logan's partner. We instantly see why these two are a couple as their woke synergy bounces off each other like a perfect game of tennis.
Caden (Tim Hopper) as a history teacher and aspiring playwright is brought in to give some historical accuracy to their production. His character is laughed at for wanting to start this Thanksgiving play almost 5,000 years ago. As things progress, we start to see Thanksgiving is not such an easy day to explain.
The final piece of this puzzle is an actress from LA that is brought to this school thanks to funding from a 'Native American Heritage Month Awareness through Art Grant.' Shortly after her arrival, Alicia (Paloma Nozicka) casually drops information that changes everything.
Caden (Tim Hopper) as a history teacher and aspiring playwright is brought in to give some historical accuracy to their production. His character is laughed at for wanting to start this Thanksgiving play almost 5,000 years ago. As things progress, we start to see Thanksgiving is not such an easy day to explain.
The final piece of this puzzle is an actress from LA that is brought to this school thanks to funding from a 'Native American Heritage Month Awareness through Art Grant.' Shortly after her arrival, Alicia (Paloma Nozicka) casually drops information that changes everything.
photo courtesy of Michael Brosilow
Now comes the challenging part. How is a Thanksgiving play that's supposed to honor Native American Heritage month without any Native American voices in the production? As the team of four try to create a story for elementary school children, they realize they're headed in four different directions. No one and nothing in this space is safe from the satire including school administrators, grantmakers, parents of course the theater community and artists just to name a few.
This 90 minute production is fast, smart and gives a lot of insight into how things work now and all the thought that goes behind every action. The show tackles big ideas at the same time doesn't make any judgments or secure a right path to take. The show is credited as the first Broadway production from a Native American playwright.
When the show was first produced in 2018, the world was a lot different and even a revision of the script includes George Floyd, whose name became part of the show after 2020. Another reference in the show, which has a different impact is the mention of Thanksgiving football and The Chiefs. While football has been a longtime American pastime included in the Turkey Day celebrations, the team's profile has risen over the past season with Taylor Swift dating one of the team's star players Travis Kelce. That moment in the show also makes the audience realize how many times that team has been mentioned, hashtaged and talked about just in the past six month.
The one viewpoint that I wish we had in this play is a child or student, since this is supposed to be a Thanksgiving Day production for children. That's the one voice that we also have to imagine being in the room, How much do these kids already know and how much are they willing to receive? In the show, Logan, the director, mentions this kid show is set for 45 minutes, while Alicia the actress questions why this can't be more like a 20 minute Disney production. Can you rewrite everything that an American child knows or believes in 45 minutes? This is such a fascinating insightful play that gets us talking about actions, inactions, whose voices get heard and what voices get left behind, in a hysterical show that leaves no opinion safe from satire.
This 90 minute production is fast, smart and gives a lot of insight into how things work now and all the thought that goes behind every action. The show tackles big ideas at the same time doesn't make any judgments or secure a right path to take. The show is credited as the first Broadway production from a Native American playwright.
When the show was first produced in 2018, the world was a lot different and even a revision of the script includes George Floyd, whose name became part of the show after 2020. Another reference in the show, which has a different impact is the mention of Thanksgiving football and The Chiefs. While football has been a longtime American pastime included in the Turkey Day celebrations, the team's profile has risen over the past season with Taylor Swift dating one of the team's star players Travis Kelce. That moment in the show also makes the audience realize how many times that team has been mentioned, hashtaged and talked about just in the past six month.
The one viewpoint that I wish we had in this play is a child or student, since this is supposed to be a Thanksgiving Day production for children. That's the one voice that we also have to imagine being in the room, How much do these kids already know and how much are they willing to receive? In the show, Logan, the director, mentions this kid show is set for 45 minutes, while Alicia the actress questions why this can't be more like a 20 minute Disney production. Can you rewrite everything that an American child knows or believes in 45 minutes? This is such a fascinating insightful play that gets us talking about actions, inactions, whose voices get heard and what voices get left behind, in a hysterical show that leaves no opinion safe from satire.
3.5 stars (out of four)
The Thanksgiving Play
Now Playing through June 2
Steppenwolf Theatre
1650 North Halsted
Chicago, Illinois
www.steppenwolf.org
The Thanksgiving Play
Now Playing through June 2
Steppenwolf Theatre
1650 North Halsted
Chicago, Illinois
www.steppenwolf.org