Name: The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway
Start: 2023-03-25
End: 2023-06-11
Location: Hayes Theater

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The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway - NYC

Genre: Play

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0071r D-Arcy Carden, Chris Sullivan, Katie Finneran, and Scott Foley in THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Photo by Joan Marcus, 202 (3)

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0297r Chris Sullivan and Scott Foleyin THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2023

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0175r D-Arcy Carden, Scott Foley, and Chris Sullivan in THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2023 (1)

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0096r D-Arcy Carden and Katie Finneran in THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2023 (2)

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0004r Scott Foley and Katie Finneran in THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2023 (1)

The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway

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“On the third day of Thanksgiving, the Natives gave to me four bows and arrows, three Native headdresses […] and a pumpkin in a pumpkin patch.” This parody song begins [*The Thanksgiving Play*](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26005-the-thanksgiving-play-tickets), playwright Larissa FastHorse’s Broadway debut — the first ever for a Native American woman — at Second Stage's [Hayes Theater](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/hayes-theater). The song, which FastHorse culled from teacher-oriented Pinterest boards, drags on long enough to make you squirm in fear of hearing the whole thing.

Sitting in the mostly white audience, I wondered if the child actors understood what they were saying. Did they know they were crooning a racist retelling of history to the raucous laughter of an audience about to be skewered in a satire of their own behavior? Did it matter?

In a recent [New Yorker profile](https://www.newyorker.com/culture/q-and-a/larissa-fasthorse-becomes-the-first-native-american-woman-to-bring-a-show-to-broadway), FastHorse, a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation, stated that the “assumptions you’re making of what’s acceptable behavior in theatre are completely different from what is normal behavior in so many cultures.” It may be awkward to listen to young children recount racist and violent visions of Thanksgiving’s disputed history, but this discomfort may be the point.

Veteran star of theatre and physical comedy Katie Finneran leads *The Thanksgiving Play* as Logan, a well-meaning if misguided drama teacher desperate to devise a Thanksgiving-themed play that tells the “truth” but won’t get her fired. Her witless partner in life and work, Jaxton (Scott Foley), grants her the first rehearsal gift of a mason jar “made with recycled glass from broken windows in housing projects” that he found at the farmer’s market. The audience, though they were the perfect demographic to buy such an object, roared.

Logan and Jaxton are met by Caden (Chris Sullivan, with impeccable comedic timing), an enthusiastic history teacher and amateur playwright eager to infuse the elementary school play with a dose of dramaturgy. Logan has received a variety of school arts grants with long titles like “Go! Girls! Scholastic Leadership Mentorship” and can afford to also hire a professional actress — a Native American one.

Alicia (D’Arcy Carden) has Disneyland experience and gorgeous high cheekbones, which is enough for Logan to hire her and the men to defer to her (Jaxton out of respect for her perceived culture, Caden out of his instant crush). The revelation that Alicia is not Native is not a spoiler so much as an inevitability, one that shakes Logan to her core and forces the group to reexamine the politics of staging a Thanksgiving play at all.

It’s a little disconcerting to hear so much laughter from the very theatregoers FastHorse caricatures — people who are not just the punchline, but also the problem — but FastHorse takes that laughter all the way to the bank. *The Thanksgiving Play* has had a vibrant regional theatre life, becoming one of the most produced plays in the country in the 2019-20 season, and returns with a script revised to reference the murder of George Floyd and how teachers now “see color, but we don’t speak for it.” 

Spring doesn't seem the most logical season for the show's Broadway bow, but Rachel Chavkin’s tight production arrives with panache. Costume designer Lux Haac invokes the quintessential drama teacher vibe in Logan’s corduroy wardrobe, while scenic designer Riccardo Hernandez delights in the play’s Bacchanalian twist. Logan mines theatricality from the group with her demands to dig deeper and to be more honest with themselves, then shuts down the bloody spectacle, screeching her fears of the school board.

The scene is a moment of triumph for the designers, but it doesn’t move the characters forward, perhaps on purpose. They will always be stuck in a circle of white guilt and trip over themselves while they debate how to escape. The damage is real, both on stages across the nation and off, but FastHorse's exploration of it is for everyone’s benefit, striking the balance between educational and entertaining without hammering home the reminder. 

[*The Thanksgiving Play* is at the Hayes Theater through June 4. Get *The Thanksgiving Play* tickets on New York Theatre Guide.](https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/show/26005-the-thanksgiving-play-tickets)

*Photo credit: D'Arcy Carden, Chris Sullivan, Katie Finneran, and Scott Foley in The Thanksgiving Play. (Photo by Joan Marcus)*

'The Thanksgiving Play' review — white guilt gives way to wild comedy

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Read our four-star review of *The Thanksgiving Play* on Broadway, starring D'Arcy Carden, Katie Finneran, Scott Foley, and Chris Sullivan, at the Hayes Theater.

The Hayes Theater officially opened as The Little Theatre on March 12, 1912. The building was designed by Harry Creighton Ingalls and built by Winthrop Ames, opening with John Galsworthy's play *The Pigeon*.

During the 1920s, the theatre was redesigned by Herbert J. Krapp to increase the capacity from 300 to 590. The New York Times purchased the building in 1931, converting it to a conference hall under the name of New York Times Hall.

In 1979, Martin Markinson and Donald Tick bought the theatre and renamed it in 1983 to the Helen Hayes Theatre to honor the actress. A previous theatre bearing her name was demolished in 1982 to make way for the Marriott Marquis Hotel.

On April 18, 2015, it was officially announced that Second Stage Theater had purchased the property. It was later revealed that the venue would be renamed the Hayes Theater, and it opened in spring 2018. The Hayes Theater is the smallest Broadway theatre, now with 597 seats.

## How to get to the Hayes Theater on Broadway

The Hayes Theater, located on 44th Street between Eighth Avenue and Broadway, is closest to the 42nd Street - Port Authority subway stop on the A, C, and E lines. Additionally, the nearest bus stops are 8th Ave/W 46th St. on the M20 and M104 lines; 7th Ave/W. 44th St. on the M104 line; and 8th Ave/W 43rd St. on the M20, M104, and M34A-SBS lines.

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Larissa FastHorse becomes the first female Native American playwright on Broadway with&nbsp;The Thanksgiving Play, making its Broadway debut at the Hayes Theater. Get The Thanksgiving Play tickets now. The Thanksgiving Play Broadway tickets are available on New York Theatre Guide.

The Thanksgiving Play&nbsp;on Broadway employs the time-honored theatre trope of a play-within-a-play. But that play-within-a-play is sending up long-held conventions — er, trying to.

## What is *The Thanksgiving Play* by Larissa FastHorse about?

FastHorse's satire centers on an amateur theatre troupe tasked with creating a Thanksgiving play to perform at an elementary school. Wanting to center the Native American perspective in the story of the holiday, the director hires a Native actress. Only, as they find out too late, she isn't actually Native; like the other three in the group, she's white. Absurdity ensues as the troupe tries to keep their production politically correct and culturally sensitive, and even with the best intentions, there's a whole feast of issues to contend with.

FastHorse, ironically, wrote this play about America during 10 days in Ireland after winning a grant to visit and write at director&nbsp;Tyrone Guthrie's&nbsp;estate there.&nbsp;The Thanksgiving Play&nbsp;then traveled across the pond for workshops and readings in Berkeley, California; Portland, Oregon; and Baltimore, Maryland.&nbsp;<a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/theatres/playwrights-horizons" target="_blank">Playwrights Horizons</a> presented the world premiere of&nbsp;The Thanksgiving Play in New York,&nbsp;directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, in its 2018-2019 Off-Broadway season.

The show's genesis in some ways reflects the plight of its characters, as the <a href="https://www.newyorktheatreguide.com/reviews/review-of-the-thanksgiving-play-at-playwrights-horizons" target="_blank">four-star&nbsp;The Thanksgiving Play review on New York Theatre Guide</a> notes: "Not being able to get her plays produced, as it required casting Native American actors and the theaters interested in producing her work don't have access to that talent pool (if indeed it does exist at all), Ms. FastHorse charged herself with the exercise of writing a play about the Native American experience without having to cast Native Americans."

## Who is Larissa FastHorse?

FastHorse is a choreographer, screenwriter, and playwright whose other plays include&nbsp;Landless, Native Nation, Cow Pie Bingo, and What Would Crazy Horse Do?

## Who is in *The Thanksgiving Play* Broadway cast?

*The Thanksgiving Play* stars Emmy nominee D'Arcy Carden, known for *A League of Their Own* and *The Good Place*, in her Broadway debut. Alongside her is two-time Tony Award winner Katie Finneran (*Noises Off*; *Promises, Promises*), two-time Emmy nominee Chris Sullivan (*This Is Us*), and Scott Foley (*Girls on the Bus*, *The Big Leap*, *Grey's Anatomy*).

Get tickets for&nbsp;The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway now.

(Photos by Joan Marcus)

The Thanksgiving Play - NYC - New York Theatre Guide

Get tickets to The Thanksgiving Play on Broadway from the official New York Theatre Guide. Feast on this delicious new comedy starring D'Arcy Carden and more.

Thanksgiving Play Broadway Tickets | Official NY Theatre Guide

With this delicious satire, Larissa FastHorse becomes the first Native American woman with a play on Broadway. Four actors must put on a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving pageant — but none of them are Native. Hilarity ensues as the performers contend with a feast of issues. Find out more about tickets to this play, which received acclaim off Broadway in 2019.

A delicious group of celebs leads *The Thanksgiving Play*. Alongside Carden is *This Is Us* Emmy nominee Chris Sullivan, two-time Tony winner Katie Finneran (*Promises, Promises*; *Noises Off*), and TV veteran Scott Foley.

FastHorse is a member of the Sicangu Lakota nation of South Dakota. Her other plays include *Landless*, *Native Nation*, *Cow Pie Bingo*, and *What Would Crazy Horse Do?* FastHorse wrote *The Thanksgiving Play* after running into trouble getting her work produced, as they all require Indigenous talent that multiple theatres told her they could not find. She “charged herself with the exercise of writing a play about the Native American experience without having to cast Native Americans," reads a *Thanksgiving Play* review on New York Theatre Guide.

Playwrights Horizons premiered *The Thanksgiving Play* off Broadway to acclaim in 2018, and it's since been produced in various theatres across the country. In 2021, a starry reading was streamed online, featuring Bobby Cannavale, Keanu Reeves, Heidi Schreck, and Alia Shawkat.

Directing *The Thanksgiving Play* on Broadway is Rachel Chavkin, best known for her Tony-winning direction of *Hadestown* and Tony-nominated work on *Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812*. This theatre season, she's also co-directing *How to Defend Yourself* off Broadway at New York Theatre Workshop.

Get tickets to *The Thanksgiving Play* in New York on TodayTix now.

## What to Watch For

- *The Thanksgiving Play* mentions multiple ill-advised classroom activities designed to “correctly” teach young kids about Thanksgiving, such as writing letters of apology to Native Americans. All are real-life examples of curricula FastHorse found online.
- *The Thanksgiving Play* is deeply American, but FastHorse actually wrote it while in Ireland. She received a grant to write there for 10 days.
- FastHorse's first play, *Average Family*, featured real trees and fire on stage, along with an 800-gallon pool!
- Before becoming a playwright, FastHorse spent years training as a ballet dancer, even teaching ballet herself for a short while.

The Thanksgiving Play - NYC - TodayTix

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