A group of politically correct teachers are tasked with creating a Thanksgiving play for their students. They hire a Native American actor to lend authenticity to the proceedings. When it turns out she’s ethnically ambiguous ,the teachers are left to navigate the resulting pitfalls in this rich satire.
Includes a conversation with playwright Larissa FastHorse.
Recorded at The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood, in September 2020. Director: Rosalind Ayres. Producing Director: Susan Albert Loewenberg.
Cast: Ellis Greer as Alicia. Josh Stamberg as Jaxton. Mark Jude Sullivan as Caden. Liza Weil as Logan.
Producer: Anna Lyse Erikson. Recording Engineers: Neil Wogenson and Mark Holden. Senior Radio Producer: Ronn Lipkin. Foley Artist: Jeff Gardner. Mixed by Charles Carroll for The Invisible Studios, West Hollywood.
Lead funding for The Thanksgiving Play is generously provided by: Barbara Timmer and Catherine Glynn Benkaim, Mike and Beth Kasser, The John Logan Foundation/Desert Wolf Productions, Jamie Wolf
“Ode to Joy” opening recorder quartet performed by Ulung Tanoto on his YouTube channel Si Ulung.
The Thanksgiving Play was commissioned and originally produced by Artists Repertory Theatre, Damaso Rodriguez, Artistic Director; Sarah Horton, Managing Director, Portland, Oregon. Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the World Premiere of The Thanksgiving Play in 2018.
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“This four-character production undertaken by L.A. Theatre Works is a send-up of woke culture, a satire of political correctness, and a most entertaining listening experience. The four actors capture the zeitgeist with controlled mayhem. Liza Weil plays well-meaning Logan, who is directing an elementary school drama production with an eye toward grantors. She is trying her best to stitch together a ‘culturally sensitive’ play about Native Americans with four white players, no script, and historical references that make every issue ‘an issue.’ The result is a laugh-out-loud play about play making…All four performers are very fine. And there’s an insightful interview with playwright and MacArthur Fellow Larissa FastHorse at the audiobook’s end. Winner of the AudioFile Earphones Award.”
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AudioFile