The Thanksgiving Play Takes Aim at This Month’s Foodie Holiday

This month’s most notorious food festivity often conjures up visions of glistening turkeys, side dish smorgasbords, and pies galore—making it easy to forget the dark history behind the quintessential American holiday. The Thanksgiving Play at Curious Theatre Company is a hilarious reminder, offering the story of four well-meaning Caucasian “teacher artists” who attempt to put on a politically correct, historically accurate holiday play for elementary schoolchildren. Denver-based director and Curious Theatre co-founder Dee Covington promises giggle-worthy antics as the characters’ cultural assumptions and “wokeness” run amok. Playwright Larissa FastHorse, a member of South Dakota’s Sicangu Lakota Nation, was inspired by her experiences in American theater, where she is often the sole indigenous person in the room. She hopes the play encourages viewers to laugh at the characters’ mistakes, at themselves, and with each other—and engage in conversations after the curtain falls. “If you leave my plays without thinking or talking about them, I haven’t done my job,” FastHorse says. Now that’s food for thought.
November 2 through December 15; from $25; Find more information on showings online