NEXUS Stages Comedic ‘Thanksgiving Play’

The second installment of NEXUS: Readings by Black and Indigenous Playwrights features “The Thanksgiving Play” by Larissa FastHorse with excerpts from Suzan Lori-Parks’ “365 Days/365 Plays” on Saturday, Nov. 6, at 7:30 p.m. in Westmont’s Porter Theatre. The event, which will include a post-reading discussion, is free and open to the public. Guests will be required to show proof of vaccine or a recent negative COVID-19 test and wear a mask while indoors on campus. Please RSVP here.

FastHorse’s satirical play tells the story of four white thespians tasked with devising an elementary school pageant about the first Thanksgiving while avoiding any culturally appropriative missteps.

“I wanted to continue to read plays that focused on different dynamics of race, such as privilege and the problematic history of some of our holidays,” says Johnny Jones, the director and Westmont’s first artist/scholar-in-residence for the theater department’s new Initiative for Justice and Global Engagement. “I enjoy Larissa FastHorse’s sense of humor and well-meaning in ‘The Thanksgiving Play.’ I also like the newness and her unique commentary on white privilege that isn’t too preachy.”

The performance features Westmont students Faith German, Alaina Dean, Emiliana Brewer, Emily Derr, Claire Nemec, Ford Sachsenmaier, Joel Michelson and Simeon Michelson.

The series continues with a reading of “The White Card” by Claudia Rankine on Dec. 6.