The Thanksgiving Play

Jaxton and Caden discuss how to approach depicting the battle. Caden corrects Jaxton’s inaccurate historical information, and Jaxton tells him to “loosen up on the facts” (44). Caden doesn’t understand this, feeling that facts simply are what they are. Jaxton realizes that Caden has already written a stack of scenes, and Caden admits that he secretly dreams of being a playwright. Jaxton insists that the way to make dreams come true is to speak them out loud, which is how he achieved his dream of becoming an actor and a “yoga dude.” Jaxton insists that they should do the after-battle scene that Caden wrote, although Caden is dubious that Logan will approve. Logan enters, surprised that they’re ready so quickly. Jaxton informs her that Caden has a play’s worth of scenes written already. Caden adds that he can work Alicia’s ideas into what he has, but Alicia announces that Logan has given her permission just to act. Logan tries to explain Alicia’s sense of simplicity, comparing Alicia to Jaxton and finishing, “I had it all wrong. She is here to mentor us” (45). Jaxton introduces their scene, describing an attack in which the Pilgrims slaughtered 400 Indigenous men, women, and children.

From a large bag, Jaxton withdraws two gruesomely bloody prop heads with long black hair and lets them thud on the ground, splattering stage blood. Logan is horrified to realize that they’re Indigenous American heads. Then she watches, aghast, as Alicia starts a game of frozen turkey bowling. The others kick and toss the heads until Logan shouts for them to stop, exclaiming that they can’t celebrate Native American Heritage Month by depicting the murder of hundreds of Indigenous people and playing games with their heads. Jaxton points out that it functions as shock theater, like “scared straight” programs in prisons. Logan points out that this would guarantee that she loses her job. They argue, but Logan pulls rank as the director. Jaxton calls her “a bitch” and a “bit dictatorial.” Logan is appalled at his nastiness and the use of such a misogynistic word. Annoyed, Jaxton states that because he used they/them pronouns for an entire year, he’s allowed to make a sexist mistake. Logan insists that this wasn’t a mistake and accuses him of insulting her because she is more professionally successful than Jaxton.

Logan gives a flawless hair flip, and Alicia praises her for it. Suddenly, Jaxton realizes that Logan is correct. Stunned, he says, “Whoa. I think this is what ‘less than’ feels like” (48). Logan asserts that she didn’t intend to make him feel inferior, but Jaxton starts to revel in the feeling, which he has never experienced as a straight white male. He calls it a gift and pushes Logan to keep insulting him. Hesitating at first, Logan starts to insult him as a street performer and an actor. However, when Logan starts to insult his sexual performance, he stops her immediately. Logan is surprised by this and tries to ask why that’s where he draws the line, but Jaxton just exclaims that she went too far. Logan asks if they ought to talk about it, but Jaxton cuts her off and announces that he needs to meditate. He suggests that everyone meditate. Alicia looks to Logan, who reaffirms that she can just continue doing nothing. Logan and Jaxton start meditating in yoga poses. Unsure what he should do, Caden attempts a yoga pose with little success, settling for laying his head down on the desk.

The stage directions call this scene “the agitprop version,” directing, “Don’t get too earnest, let the appropriation fly” (51). An actor calls this “applying social responsibility and ethics to a classroom Thanksgiving” (51). Briefly, another actor (or multiple actors) describes an instance of police brutality against Indigenous people on Thanksgiving in 1997 during a peaceful protest march in observance of their yearly National Day of Mourning. An actor finishes, “Final assignment: Have students write letters of apology to the Indians. Then, read them to each other” (51).

Logan breaks their group meditation by announcing that she has figured it out. They will perform the traditional Thanksgiving story but leave empty space and silence where the Indigenous people would be. Caden offers a dinner scene that he has written, thumbing through a huge packet of papers. When Logan observes how much he has written, Caden replies, “There’s nothing that means more to me in my life than this opportunity” (52). Logan tells the other three to take a break while she goes off to work on the scene. Jaxton talks about the depth of his meditation and how he came face-to-face with his own privilege. Caden comments that he would have been upset if a girlfriend said to him what Logan said to Jaxton. Jaxton brushes it off as Logan’s “justified feminine rage” instead of actual criticism of him (53). Jaxton asks Alicia how she, as a privileged white person, gets into character when playing oppressed people. Alicia replies, “I pretend to be them” (53), adding that she can also cry on cue. She demonstrates, and both men are impressed.

Jaxton understands what Logan meant when she described Alicia’s simplicity, suggesting that she could make money by teaching it as a workshop. However, Alicia isn’t interested, and she says it doesn’t seem like it can really be taught. Jaxton decides that he must be too smart for it, and Alicia says that Caden is definitely too smart. Logan returns excitedly and sets the scene. For the first run, Logan speaks the lines of the Indigenous characters. Caden is struck with intense emotion to hear his lines read by legitimate actors, although he suggests that they perform better next time, accepting Alicia’s offer to cry. Jaxton and Logan call Caden out for the taboo of giving notes to fellow actors. For the next run, no one will read the lines of the Indigenous characters, but they will all act as though they see and hear them. Alicia starts, and she and Jaxton giggle when her lines about turkey parts sound like a double entendre. Caden is indignant about the jokes. He is also resistant to having the lines he wrote for the Indigenous characters replaced by silence. Jaxton and Alicia snicker again as they find more sexually suggestive dialogue, and Jaxton laughs that Caden has written a “sex comedy,” which Caden vehemently denies. Caden continues to insist on saying the missing lines, even though Logan pleads with him to stop.

Jaxton pipes up in agreement with Caden that the silences don’t work. He argues that because silence has so much power onstage, they’re giving their voices too much strength and creating a new type of inequality. Logan points out that it is Native American Heritage Month, which leads to discussion of other designated months and Alicia’s comment that there is no month for white people. Logan explains the concept of privilege to Alicia, who doesn’t understand. Alicia suggests that both sides could be silent to make it more equal. Jaxton agrees, but Caden is offended at the idea. Logan promises that they’re just experimenting and devising, but when they start again, Caden insistently says the lines. Jaxton tries to cover his mouth, and they wrestle. Alicia joins in. In the melee, Logan suddenly tells everyone to freeze, and they do so in comic positions. Elated, Logan points toward the middle of the space, which is empty. She exclaims that they have accomplished their goal by creating “that perfectly equitable emptiness” (61).

Logan elaborates that as four white people, they can’t create a Thanksgiving play that makes everyone happy, so they won’t. The others start to come around, pleased with themselves. Since they’ve finished devising in record time and Alicia will still be paid for the full run of rehearsals, Caden asks if they can come back to work on his sex comedy. They all agree. Caden offers to give Alicia rides, which she contemplates, and then she asks if Caden will write a play for her. Caden readily agrees, and they leave together. Alone, Logan asks Jaxton if their relationship is all right. Jaxton says that he’s inspired by Logan. He has realized that the activism they need to do is more of what they’re doing with the play, explaining, “We need to be less. Do less. That’s the lesson. By doing nothing, we become part of the solution. But it has to start here, with us” (62). Logan agrees, and they exit together, satisfied with the work they have done.