Western Theatre Co. to put on The Thanksgiving Play

Western Theatre Company (WTC) is looking forward to having an uncomfortable conversation with their audience.

Starting Oct. 22, WTC will be putting on their semester show: The Thanksgiving Play, a contemporary satire by Larissa FastHorse about four “terminally woke” white people: Logan: a high school drama director, Jaxton: a politically correct actor and yoga instructor, Caden: an awkward history teacher trying to ground the production with historical facts, and Alicia: a non-Native actress mistakenly cast as such, creating a Thanksgiving play without Native representation.

The show is Western theatre student Brian Kerrigan’s senior capstone project. Kerrigan, a double major in theatre and sociology, was drawn to The Thanksgiving Play because it was both funny and thought provoking. He chose the play, decided on his role, and sat in on auditions for the rest of the cast. The intention is that the chosen show, acting choices made, and execution will be compiled into a thesis that Kerrigan will defend to a panel of artists. Kerrigan and the Stagecrafting class are also responsible for building the stage.

“We get to build the stage during the day and then rehearse on it at night,” said Kerrigan. “The theatre department at Western is so close-knit, and it's been an absolute dream to get to play such a large part in choosing and championing a play that showcases everyone's talents.”

The four principal cast members include Kerrigan as Jaxton, River Cosgrove as Caden, Lindsey Trenkle as Logan, and Skylah Inman as Alicia, along with a five-person chorus to perform additional classroom scenes. Western theatre instructor Heather Hughes will be directing. Kerrigan has spent time digging deeper into the characters’ intentions and actions.

“I play Jaxton, who is a laid-back but politically correct-to-a-fault white guy,” said Kerrigan. “He's a very difficult character to play, because you can see where his good intentions are, and watch in real time as his actions take a turn for the worse. It's very difficult to play someone you don't agree with-- just like it's hard to have a conversation with someone you don't agree with. I think part of the magic of The Thanksgiving Play is feeling empathy for these imperfect characters. You can learn from them, laugh at their mishaps, and then walk away thinking about how you can improve where they failed.”

Kerrigan and Hughes describe The Thanksgiving Play as a powerful story with divisive topics and difficult thoughts, reminding the audience that good intentions aren’t enough.

“It’s very funny, absurdly so at times, but I think it also conveys a lot of real, difficult thoughts about what it means to be a person in America today,” said Kerrigan. “There's a lot of conversations that come off as goofy, but as you think about them more, begin to gnaw at your mind.”

The hope is to challenge both the actors and the audience to really listen and dig deep into their hearts to realize their intentions. Good intentions can still cause harm when people speak for communities without listening to or including those with that lived experience. Through its deliberately uncomfortable portrayal of white people trying to create a “Turkey Day,” play that also simultaneously honors Native American Heritage Month, it challenges audiences to question who gets to tell a story, examine their assumptions, and make space for more truthful and inclusive representation. The uncomfortable and sometimes insane classroom scenes draw from lesson-plan material and festive songs from real education websites. However, Hughes believes that the sites no longer function for those purposes after the play became widely known.

“The Thanksgiving Play is too insane to miss. It's a moment to think about some heavy topics like racism and privilege, while also having a blast and getting to laugh,” said Kerrigan. “I really hope that anyone who comes to see it leaves with a sense of relief. There's a lot of difficult things we have to do as humans, and when we approach each other with open minds and respect, that's half the battle fought.”

Hughes hopes audiences leave feeling unsettled enough to reflect, noting that the conversations that follow a show are an important part of the theatre experience.

“The show is absolutely hilarious, and my great hope is that everyone in the audience will be so mortified and horrified that they can barely watch while it's happening,” said Hughes.

The play begins Thursday, Oct. 22 with shows through the 24th, and then again the 28-30th. The show starts at 7:30 at the Taylor Studio Theatre and is $5 for students, $10 for adults.