Larissa FastHorse satirizes current confusing attitudes in modern theater in her riotous comedy, The Thanksgiving Play, now presented by Second Stage at the Hayes Theater after an Off-Broadway run at Playwrights Horizons in 2018. Fasthorse, the first Native American female playwright to be produced on Broadway, mercilessly mocks the well-meaning but condescending attempts of good-hearted liberals to include the voices of oppressed minorities in the arts. Her brilliantly simple premise places four white theater artists in an elementary school classroom (Riccardo Hernandez created the detailed set) to create an historically accurate and inclusive show about Turkey Day for kids. Director Logan (riotously funny Katie Finneran), a failed actress who left LA after six weeks, and her romantic partner Jaxton (sturdy Scott Foley), a street performer, are joined by pretty, seemingly vacuous Alicia (D’Arcy Carden, hilarious at belying the dumb chick stereotype) and history teacher Caden who longs to be a playwright (deadly earnest Chris Sullivan).
Director Rachel Chavkin and the quartet of farceurs hit all the right comic notes and time each punchline to land with guffaw-inducing accuracy. The main humor comes from the elaborate ways Logan, Jaxton, and Caden twist themselves into pretzels so as not to offend Native Americans, parents, gay people, women, Hispanics, or any other group. Alicia was hired by Logan who mistakenly took her for Native American because the actress submitted one of her “ethnic” headshots. She’s just going with the flow, and Carden hilariously conveys Alicia’s empty-headed, laid-back style. Watch as she gets laughs just eating yogurt without a spoon. Chaos ensues as the group attempts to fashion a 45-minute piece that will entertain fourth graders and upset no adults.
Scenes are intercut with videos of deadpan students singing horribly racist Thanksgiving songs. The kids in the videos with their construction-paper costumes are as funny as the live cast members. Eventually, the group is half-naked, smeared with fake blood, and stripped of their illusions and pretensions. This is an achingly funny social satire with sharp teeth.
