Larissa FastHorse’s “The Thanksgiving Play” at the Geffen Playhouse finds comedy in adults struggling to stage a culturally sensitive kids pageant.“I got into playwriting not just to write plays but to change the field,” she told The Times. “My gift is as a translator. What I can do well is take Indigenous contemporary experiences and translate them for white audiences because that’s what we have.
Her satirical “The Thanksgiving Play” skewering the mythology of Pilgrims and Indians finding peace through breaking bread premiered in 2018 at New York’s Playwrights Horizons.Noah Bean, left, Alexandra Henrikson and Samantha Sloyan perform Native American playwright Larissa FastHorse’s “The Thanksgiving Play” at a 2019 production at Geffen Playhouse.
Although the success of “The Thanksgiving Play” and recent return to film and television writing brought more stability, “We’ve never experienced knowing for five years, our bills are paid. I’ve never had that kind of security, ever,” FastHorse said.Advertisement