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Regional Reviews: Chicago The Thanksgiving Play Also see Karen's review of Judgment Day
It's the craziest, most up-to-date comedy you'll see this year, as everyone of us seems to face the threat of some personal, Stalinesque purge over the tiniest infractions of identity politics. And it's impossible to sidestep all the modern political landmines as a quartet of theatre people devise a new play for school kids about the pilgrims and That minefield comes wrapped up in lots of hilariously genuine empathy, seemingly demanded by the general concept of diversity, equity and inclusion. DEI is not specifically the villain, but it turns us into fools, as though the secret police were listening around every corner. There's also a wildcard outsider on stage to relieve the burden of infinite respect, in the form of a beautiful actress from Los Angeles. She first presents herself as Native American named Alicia, played to winsome perfection by Paloma Nozicka. But her story presents just one of the many absurd complications. The phrase "erased presence" flies by a few times in very delicate and oblique reference to the mass murder of American Indian tribes, in the process of colonization. But when it comes to great theatre, subtle euphemisms are no match for wild symbolic violence–as we see in a jaw-dropping, bloody game of Thanksgiving Day football, played on stage with a couple of severed (rubber) heads. It's insane, as history does battle with the present. At the center of it all is a bright young woman named Logan (Audrey Francis), an idealistic director who's cobbled together a bunch of financial grants to put on a new socially conscious holiday play for children which as yet remains unwritten, but which she has promised will run 45 minutes in its final form. That's why they gave her the money. Gradually, the cruelties of life and a horror of cultural insensitivities put us into a spin. Steppenwolf Co-Artistic Director Audrey Francis is terrific as Logan, brilliantly frozen (at one point) in the face of temptation, and her own identity crisis. The whole legacy of the world of theatre seems to rest on her shoulders as she wobbles atop the jiggling zeitgeist. Nate Santana is a subversive comic delight as Jaxton, and Tim Hopper is smart and a bit heartbreaking as Caden. Mr. Santana plays the street performer, and Mr. Hopper a history teacher. They've landed the other roles in this work-in-progress, which turns into something quite different by the end. And both actors master the comical terror of an entirely new kind of non-gendered, non-Eurocentric Big Brother. All four of them ratchet-up the absurdity of our idealism, even when it's irreconcilable with our actual history, on a second-by-second basis: whether as pilgrims, or fools, or blood-soaked holiday football players. The Thanksgiving Play runs through June 2, 2024, at Steppenwolf Ensemble Theater, 1646 North Halsted Street, Chicago IL. For tickets and more information, please visit www.steppenwolf.org. Cast: Production Staff: Artistic Directors: Glenn Davis*, Audrey Francis* Executive Director: E. Brook Flanagan * Denotes Steppenwolf Theater Ensemble Member ** Denotes Member, Actors' Equity Association *** Denotes Member, United Scenic Artists Local 829 of IATSE **** Denotes Member, Stage Directors and Choreographers Society |
