“So we’re four white people doing a culturally sensitive play?”
In “The Thanksgiving Play,” there is no shortage of these kinds of lines: humorous, but with a dark truth. In fact, that could sum up pretty much all of the play. By Moonbox Productions, this satirical take on Thanksgiving that doesn’t mince its words is on at Arrow Street Arts through Dec. 15.
The premise is simple. A group has gathered to create an educational Thanksgiving play, something that will be politically correct while honoring the traditional holiday pageant. It’s led by Logan (Jasmine Goodspeed), a high school drama teacher; her boyfriend Jaxton (Johnny Gordon), a wannabe actor-yogi; Caden (Ohad Ashkenazi), an elementary school teacher with an unflappable passion for playwriting; and Alicia (Marisa Diamond), a professional actor Logan has sourced to serve as the Native American perspective.
Except, we soon find out, Alicia is not actually Native American. She just knows how to hustle; she’s had six different ethnic headshots done, she announces proudly.
This, the reveal of something that’s awful yet not unrealistic, is where the “The Thanksgiving Play” does its best work. Again and again, it draws attention to the normalized racism, prejudice and microaggressions against Indigenous people that permeate all corners of our society. But perhaps even more importantly, it highlights how even well-meaning, woke liberals can cause harm when they intend to do just the opposite.
The play makes its point known, but with a consistent humor that prevents it from feeling heavy. The buzzwords of white progressivism are used liberally, and pronouns are added to introductions unprompted. There’s a lot of space being held and a lot of privilege being acknowledged.
“But this is post-BLM! And there are grants at stake!” Logan exclaims at one point.
The scenes in the classroom are interspersed with segments based on Thanksgiving projects posted online by teachers. The play begins with “The Nine Days of Thanksgiving,” a list of things, including “six Native teepees” the Indians “gave” to colonizers, for instance. These moments are powerful, and are some of the strongest parts of this production.
There’s a lot of good in the way the play makes the audience sit with inevitable discomfort, but the issue is that not much happens. The characters spend the duration of the play talking in a classroom, and at points, it felt like they were speaking in circles, making the same points again and again, before coming to what I found to be a dissatisfying conclusion. But watching all that talking was still largely enjoyable thanks to a solid cast across the board, all of whom leaned into the humor of their character’s stereotypes with impressive depth, especially Ashkenazi, who plays the overzealous, wide-eyed elementary school teacher.
The play is breaking ground as the first production of “The Thanksgiving Play” to be led by a Native director. And when Tara Moses came on board, she wanted to pioneer another first. “The Thanksgiving Play” is typically cast with white actors, but playwright Larissa FastHorse’s intention is for the show to be cast with white-presenting Native actors of light-skinned people of color. Moses followed that casting note, filling these roles with Native actors and actors of color rather than white actors. It’s an important first, but it didn’t have the impact on the play I was expecting.
Despite some struggles with pacing and attention, “The Thanksgiving Play” is a provocative, original way of rethinking Thanksgiving and a worthwhile way to spend time this holiday season.
“The Thanksgiving Play” is at Arrow Street Arts, 2 Arrow St., Harvard Square, Cambridge, through Dec. 15. Tickets are online for $45. Moonbox has a pick-your-price option that lets audience members pay what they wish for tickets. Card to Culture tickets are available for EBT, WIC and ConnectorCare cardholders.
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