In her cringe comedy The Thanksgiving Play, Larissa FastHorse shows how good intentions can go wrong
The award-winning playwright discusses her biting satire of performative activism in the theatre world
In Larissa FastHorse's satire The Thanksgiving Play, four well-meaning white theatre nerds attempt to create a culturally sensitive elementary school Thanksgiving show, without the guidance of an Indigenous person.
The play is a cringe comedy that pokes fun at the kind of performative activism that FastHorse says is common in the theatre world.
"I was struggling with American theatre down here in the States … with people saying they couldn't produce my plays because there were too many Native American actors in them," Fasthorse says in an interview with Q's Tom Power. "I gave myself a challenge and I said, 'OK theatre, I'm going to write you a play with all white presenting people, but that still deals with Indigenous issues in the way that I like to in my work."
The show's four non-Indigenous characters include a guy who loves yoga and "feeling his feelings," a vegan drama teacher who's obsessed with being politically correct, a history nerd who thinks it's OK to use offensive "historical" terms, and a white actor who thinks she can "pass" as Indigenous.
"I tell people all the time that this play is like 80 per cent just lines from my life that I hear as a Native American woman in theatre and education," FastHorse says. "These people are in my life, and I had to use 20 per cent of the space to connect it and make it one story. But really, these people all exist."
FastHorse explains how the fear of doing something wrong or being offensive can lead to an all talk no action dynamic between theatres and their Indigenous collaborators. That's something she wanted to capture with the character of Logan, the vegan drama teacher, who she says represents the majority of theatres she's worked with.
"They really want to do the right things so badly, but not if it harms them and not if it involves too much risk," the playwright tells Power. "They're so scared of making a mistake that they do nothing."
FastHorse's provocative 2017 play, What Would Crazy Horse Do?, was inspired by her historical interest in the KKK's collaborations with Indigenous groups. For her research, she says she corresponded with a Klan member named Michael for about a year and a half.
"This is a terrible story and I shouldn't say it, but here we are," FastHorse tells Power. "It was honestly easier to deal with Michael from the Klan than it was to deal with a lot of incredibly well-meaning liberal theatres because I knew where we stood. Like he said what he meant, I knew what the intentions were, I could say what I meant. We had this really clear discussion [and] we knew where we disagreed."
Despite her experiences, FastHorse appreciates and recognizes the pure intentions of her mostly white liberal audience. Her intention is for all theatre-goers to have a good time and maybe think about Indigenous history in a new way.
"I do have a faith that these well-meaning folks are actually well-meaning," she says "In some ways, as hard as [the play] is on white folks and well-meaning folks in general, it's also a love letter, right? Because I give them a lot of laughter. I give them a lot of silliness. I want people to be rewarded for coming to this show."
The Thanksgiving Play premiered on Broadway last year, and has since become one of the top 10 most produced plays across North America. It recently had its Canadian premiere at the CAA Ed Mirvish Theatre in Toronto, where it runs until Oct. 20.
The full interview with Larissa FastHorse is available on our podcast, Q with Tom Power. Listen and subscribe wherever you get your podcasts.
Written by Kaitlin King. Interview with Larissa FastHorse produced by Vanessa Greco.