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The Thanksgiving Play, Featuring Margo Seibert, Opens Off-Broadway

Moritz von Stuelpnagel directs Larissa FastHorse’s world premiere for Playwrights Horizons.

Jason Zednick
Off-Broadway
Jeffrey Bean, Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles, and Greg Keller take their bows on opening night of The Thanksgiving Play.
Jeffrey Bean, Margo Seibert, Jennifer Bareilles, and Greg Keller take their bows on opening night of The Thanksgiving Play.
(© Gerda Mostonaite)

The company of Playwrights Horizons' world-premiere production of Larissa FastHorse's The Thanksgiving Play celebrated opening night on Monday, November 5, at the Peter Jay Sharp Theater. Directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, the production runs through November 25.

The company of The Thanksgiving Play celebrates opening night.
The company of The Thanksgiving Play celebrates opening night.
(© Gerda Mostonaite)

Jennifer Bareilles (Valer), Jeffrey Bean (Bells Are Ringing), Greg Keller (The Humans), and Margo Seibert (In Transit) star in the production. The creative team includes Wilson Chin (scenic design), Tilly Grimes (costume design), Isabella Byrd (lighting design), Mikaal Sulaiman (sound design), and Katie Ailinger (production stage manager).

Sara Bareilles walks the red carpet.
Sara Bareilles, sister of cast member Jennifer Bareilles, walks the red carpet.
(© Gerda Mostonaite)

The Thanksgiving Play, according to a press release, "follows well-intentioned white teaching artists as they scramble to create an ambitious 'woke' Thanksgiving pageant that also celebrates Native American Heritage Month…and quells their white guilt…and satisfies their lofty artistic impulses…as part of an 'All School Turkey Trot.' Caden, an elementary school history teacher, offers rich historical context that spirals into unproductive tangents; yogi-actor Jaxton's performance of political correctness comically complicates the process; Logan, a high school drama teacher, wants to 'elevate' the play by engaging a single Native American actor; and Alicia just wants to be onstage. The comedy follows their process of devising this cutting-edge Thanksgiving performance — allegedly for children — and flailing as privilege-checking and self-importance collide and get in their way."