DIGITAL PLAYBILL
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY
Written by Larissa FastHorse. Directed by Tim Martin Featuring: Rachel Gluck (Logan), Paul Harrold (Caden), Nathan Joseph (Jaxton) and Felicia Leicht (Alicia). Set Design- Paul Kuhn Lighting and Projection Design- Siobhan Ehresmann Sound Design- Natali Merrill Costume Design- Aetna Gallagher Production/Stage Manager- Celia HuttonJohns Assistant Stage Manager- Eden Hershey Production Photos- Rebecca Gudelunas |
Curio Theatre Company acknowledges that, in what is now eastern Pennsylvania, we stand on Indigenous land, known as, Lenapehokink, of which the Lenape people are the original inhabitants.
Visit the land acknowledgement art installation outside of the Calvary Center on Baltimore Avenue and add a cup of Lenape soil!
SIGN THE PETITION
Tell Pennsylvania lawmakers that they must give State Recognition to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania!
Visit the land acknowledgement art installation outside of the Calvary Center on Baltimore Avenue and add a cup of Lenape soil!
SIGN THE PETITION
Tell Pennsylvania lawmakers that they must give State Recognition to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania!
Donate to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania
A Note from the Director:
Hehl,
I have a complicated relationship with the holiday of Thanksgiving. It’s been fraught with racist images, and childhood memories of classmates in construction paper headdresses that seemed to mock and misinterpret my family, my culture, my heritage. Larissa FastHorse deconstructs the myth of the friendly Indigenous/Pilgrim celebrations several times through the play, giving us a deeper history, clowning our way through a history of violence and shows us how we get bogged down with erasure in our own philosophies. Native humor has always been our way of bonding, of healing and of teaching. This can be confusing for anyone on the outside. The same joke can be meant to console, to tease and to correct, and often all three simultaneously.
When I first came across an advertisement for The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse on Broadway, I was beyond thrilled. A Native voice on Broadway! Then I saw the posters. Wait, so the cast is 4 white people? Why would a Lakota playwright make a play where 4 white people tell the story of Thanksgiving? I read that she was told too many times by theaters that “we love your work but just can’t find any Native actors.” And so wrote a play where four Caucasians deconstruct their way through the Thanksgiving story. This is probably the most Native joke I have ever seen.
She could have written a take-down piece where four people twirled their mustaches and said racist things. Instead, FastHorse shows us with compassion just how complicated and deep these myths are ingrained in our culture. These four characters are well-meaning. They make countless mistake and are at times cruel. They want to be better, they want to be good, and they are here to try to make something authentic. But they continuously center themselves in the process while trying to make room for Native voices. A running gag in the script is the vast amount of grants that Logan can access.
During the height of the pandemic, like almost everyone else- I had time to reflect on my life. As mentioned in the play, the events after the murder of George Floyd firmly dispelled the myth that we were in a post-racial society. It turned the arts on its head and sent a wave of self-examination through our communicates. Growing up on the East Coast in the 80’s and 90’s, a continent apart from my tribe, the conversation about race was very black and white. This wasn’t my lived experience, being a mixed-blood Yurok with European/Irish roots. I never felt like my experience was reflected by anyone outside of my family. Not in the media, not in the arts and not during my working life. The pandemic brought several opportunities. The Yurok Language Program began streaming classes. I had access to one of the most basic parts of my culture. The Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program also began virtual sessions. For the first time in my 3 decades as a theatre professional, I was able be in a space with other Indigenous theater artists. We discussed our shared experiences, telling our stories and decolonizing our processes. I understood some of the frustrations I had with western theater process and saw that it was possible to change.
A decolonized theater isn’t hierarchical. Everyone’s roles are equally important. Yes, there’s a leader, but that’s a role with the same value as the rest of the team. It’s important to know what your role is and acknowledge where you are speaking from, to be brave enough to speak and to listen. There needs to be a mutual respect. This is vital to communication and leads to a deeper authenticity of the project. Curio’s deep ethic of collaboration lends itself perfectly. A decolonized theater allows for us all to be more than just our roles, as well. We are parents, children, we have day jobs and get ill. We need to have time to adjust and heal. We need space to enter a room and land there before we begin. We need to respect one another’s needs and have good boundaries for our own. I hope that this piece we have made together, can share the importance and humor with you, the audience (who also has a vital role in this process.) I hope that this Native humor can make you laugh, feel seen and learn a little something at the same time.
Wohklew,
Tim Martin
Hehl,
I have a complicated relationship with the holiday of Thanksgiving. It’s been fraught with racist images, and childhood memories of classmates in construction paper headdresses that seemed to mock and misinterpret my family, my culture, my heritage. Larissa FastHorse deconstructs the myth of the friendly Indigenous/Pilgrim celebrations several times through the play, giving us a deeper history, clowning our way through a history of violence and shows us how we get bogged down with erasure in our own philosophies. Native humor has always been our way of bonding, of healing and of teaching. This can be confusing for anyone on the outside. The same joke can be meant to console, to tease and to correct, and often all three simultaneously.
When I first came across an advertisement for The Thanksgiving Play by Larissa FastHorse on Broadway, I was beyond thrilled. A Native voice on Broadway! Then I saw the posters. Wait, so the cast is 4 white people? Why would a Lakota playwright make a play where 4 white people tell the story of Thanksgiving? I read that she was told too many times by theaters that “we love your work but just can’t find any Native actors.” And so wrote a play where four Caucasians deconstruct their way through the Thanksgiving story. This is probably the most Native joke I have ever seen.
She could have written a take-down piece where four people twirled their mustaches and said racist things. Instead, FastHorse shows us with compassion just how complicated and deep these myths are ingrained in our culture. These four characters are well-meaning. They make countless mistake and are at times cruel. They want to be better, they want to be good, and they are here to try to make something authentic. But they continuously center themselves in the process while trying to make room for Native voices. A running gag in the script is the vast amount of grants that Logan can access.
During the height of the pandemic, like almost everyone else- I had time to reflect on my life. As mentioned in the play, the events after the murder of George Floyd firmly dispelled the myth that we were in a post-racial society. It turned the arts on its head and sent a wave of self-examination through our communicates. Growing up on the East Coast in the 80’s and 90’s, a continent apart from my tribe, the conversation about race was very black and white. This wasn’t my lived experience, being a mixed-blood Yurok with European/Irish roots. I never felt like my experience was reflected by anyone outside of my family. Not in the media, not in the arts and not during my working life. The pandemic brought several opportunities. The Yurok Language Program began streaming classes. I had access to one of the most basic parts of my culture. The Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program also began virtual sessions. For the first time in my 3 decades as a theatre professional, I was able be in a space with other Indigenous theater artists. We discussed our shared experiences, telling our stories and decolonizing our processes. I understood some of the frustrations I had with western theater process and saw that it was possible to change.
A decolonized theater isn’t hierarchical. Everyone’s roles are equally important. Yes, there’s a leader, but that’s a role with the same value as the rest of the team. It’s important to know what your role is and acknowledge where you are speaking from, to be brave enough to speak and to listen. There needs to be a mutual respect. This is vital to communication and leads to a deeper authenticity of the project. Curio’s deep ethic of collaboration lends itself perfectly. A decolonized theater allows for us all to be more than just our roles, as well. We are parents, children, we have day jobs and get ill. We need to have time to adjust and heal. We need space to enter a room and land there before we begin. We need to respect one another’s needs and have good boundaries for our own. I hope that this piece we have made together, can share the importance and humor with you, the audience (who also has a vital role in this process.) I hope that this Native humor can make you laugh, feel seen and learn a little something at the same time.
Wohklew,
Tim Martin
SPECIAL THANKS FOR THEIR HELP WITH THIS PRODUCTION
John Bellomo, Aaron Billheimer, Rusty Davenport, John Gallagher, Marlowe Gilligan, Shaun Gilligan, Tessa Kuhn and Hedgerow Theatre.
John Bellomo, Aaron Billheimer, Rusty Davenport, John Gallagher, Marlowe Gilligan, Shaun Gilligan, Tessa Kuhn and Hedgerow Theatre.
CAST AND CREW BIO'S
Rachel Gluck (Logan) is thrilled to be back on stage at Curio Theatre company, after a five-year hiatus! Most recently at Curio, Rachel directed “Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story”. Previous acting credits include, “Three Sisters by Rashdash After Checkov,” “Crimes of the Heart” and “Romeo and Juliet” She would like to thank this beyond-talented cast, crew, and design team for reminding her what she loves about performing. Love to Colleen & Lyra.
Paul Harrold (Caden) is delighted to return to Curio, where he was last seen as The Wanderer in Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story.
Philly credits include A Man for All Seasons (Richard Rich) Lantern Theatre, Rent (Roger) New Light Theatre, Twelfth Night (Sir Andrew) Delaware Shakespeare, A Christmas Carol (Marley) Walnut St. Theatre, and Head Over Heels, Theatre Horizon. He has also appeared with Egopo Classic Theatre, Azuka Theatre Philadelphia Shakespeare Theatre and more. His band The Nuclear Bandits can be found tearing apart dive bars near you and is streaming wherever you listen. Thanks to my parents, John and James. Besos to Tina.
Nathan Joseph (Jaxton) is multidisciplinary actor and creator with an affinity for devised theatre, performance creation, improv, sketch comedy, and clowning. Recent credits include: Eraser (actor/creator/playwright), BETR! With Bevon a workshop, one man show presented by Epigraph Collective (actor), Cleave the Forward March Festival presented by Theatre Direct (actor), The Complete Deaths presented by Curio Theatre and the award winning series Two Brothers presented by Meikle Productions on OUTTv. Nathan is ecstatic to be joining Curio Theatre in the production of The Thanksgiving Play and would like to extend endless thanks and gratitude to Tim Martin, his cast mates, the crew and everyone involved with this production, friends, family and to you for joining us.
Felicia Leicht (Alicia) is delighted to make her Curio debut! She is a theater artist whose credits include Swallow with Inis Nua Theatre Company, The Captive with Philadelphia Artists Collective, Taming of the Shrew with Delaware Shakespeare, and Tigers Be Still with Azuka Theatre. She has also performed with Revolution Shakespeare, Shakespeare in Clark Park, Commonwealth Classic Theatre Company, Philadelphia Shakespeare Festival, Philadelphia Women’s Theatre Festival, and the National Constitution Center among others, and has created original works for the Philadelphia Live Arts, Philly Fringe, and Berkshire Fringe Festivals. Huge hugs and thanks to Tim for the absolute joy it has been to work on this piece with this team. So much love and gratitude to my parents for the endless support, and the ethnically flexible looks that made this role possible, and especially to Stephen and Owen for holding down the fort so I can go play.
Celia HuttonJohns (Production/Stage Manager) (she/her) is a Philly-based stage manager and is thrilled to be working with the incredible theatre-makers at Curio again. Credits include Poor Judge (Pig Iron Theatre Company), Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story, Jack and the Beanstalk, and The Complete Deaths (Curio Theatre Company), SPEECH (Lightning Rod Special), and The Taming! and Pericles: Prince of Tyre (Shakespeare in Clark Park). Thanks to the cast and crew of The Thanksgiving Play for making it such a fun project and to Damien for initially recommending her to Curio. And all his love and support.
Eden Hershey (Assistant Stage Manager) (she/her) is excited to be back at Curio as an assistant stage manager. She has worked with Curio for several years and recently (assistant) stage managed The Complete Deaths, Jack and the Beanstalk, and Old Stock: A Refugee Love Story.
Huge thank you to Curio and everyone who made this show happen, and all my love to my family and friends!
Tim Martin (Director) is pleased to be making his directorial debut at his artistic home of 20 years, Curio Theatre, where he has served as lighting designer, stage manager, playwright and associate artistic director. A theater artist of Yurok and Irish descent, who grew up in the occupied lands of the Lenni Lenape, he has worked with dozens of theatre and dance companies including: EgoPo, Tribe of Fools, Commonwealth Classic Theatre, PearlDamour, Media Theater, Bristol Riverside Theater, InterAct, Lantern, International Opera Theatre, Rebecca Davis Dance, Mum Puppettheatre, Enchantment Theatre and sundry others. In the academic world, Tim has worked for Drexel University, West Chester University, Germantown Academy, The Shipley School and Swarthmore College. Tim is also an illuminated fountain show designer and has designed for (among others) Longwood Gardens (where he is an Assoc. Director for the Fountains) and Nancy Best Fountain in Dallas, TX. Wohklew to this amazing cast and creative team. (He/Him)
Siobhan Frigge Ehresmann (Lighting Design) (She/her/hers) is a trans Philadelphia-based lighting designer. The Thanksgiving Play marks her second show with Curio following Old Stock! She is grateful to be back, and is especially thankful to Paul, Gay, and the rest of the team to be welcomed back. She took great joy in creating the video and projected elements, which would not have bee nearly as good without an all-hands-on-deck shoot, and of course the audio wizardry of Natali! She would like to express her friends and family the highest thanks and love, especially Chloe, Mol, Sophia, Mersha, Courtney, Rob, Kory, and Spirit.
Natali Merrill (Sound Design) is a sound and technology designer and engineer excited to work with Curio Theatre Company. Based in Philadelphia, she has been the sound designer for productions including Ghost Ride (Agile Rascal Bike Theatre), Siluetas (Power Street Theatre), Broads (1812 Productions), Spring Awakening (Bryn Mawr College), High Noon (Ninth Planet), Shakespeare’s R&J (New Light Theatre Company), Fucking A (Swarthmore College), Riot Antigone and Cabaret (Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges). She has worked with Theatre Exile, 11th Hour Theatre Company, the Bearded Ladies Cabaret, New Century Theatre Company in Seattle, and the Williamstown Theatre Festival. A graduate of Haverford College with a major in physics, she researched and wrote a thesis on acoustics in performance halls with RWTH Aachen University in Aachen, Germany. She is also a singer and composer. www.nmerrill.com
Aetna Gallagher (Costume Design) is Associate Director and a founding company member of Curio Theatre Company. Having Designed most of Curio's Productions for the past 20 years, she is thrilled to be working with such a talented cast and crew. Big shout out to Paul and Gay for choosing such a hilarious and relevant piece and Tim Martin for bringing it to life. Remember to visit the land acknowledgement art installation and add a cup of soil! Also, sign the petition to give State Recognition to the Lenape Nation of Pennsylvania! Much love to John, Ibbie, Steve, Judy, Danny, Jack, Roo and Azula.