Delta Digital News Service

Story by DDNS Reporter Amelia Young

JONESBORO, Ark.- The Arkansas State University Theater Department rounds out the Fall semester with a show with the perfect blend of satirical comedy and cultural commentary with “The Thanksgiving Play.”

            “The Thanksgiving Play” centers around a group of four well-intentioned educators who are trying to come up with and write a Thanksgiving pageant without any Native American representation, but they get trapped in a loop of being socially aware, political correctness and trying to do what they believe is ‘the right thing.’

            The play selection committee, which includes the director of The Thanksgiving Play, Dallas Martinez, as well as other professors in the theater department and three students, begins looking at plays for the next season almost a year in advance. They look at productions done in recent years and what the needs of students are.

            “We want our students to have a well-rounded resume when they graduate so that it doesn’t show that they have only done one thing. So we start thinking about the needs, such as have we done a language play. Have we done a particular type of musical that takes place in like a golden age versus a modern age? Have we done ensembles? Have we done farces? Things like that so that when they leave here they’re able to not just say, ‘I can only audition for blank,’ right,” Martinez said.

            This production takes place in a round in their black box  Simpson theater. A round is when the audience is on all sides of the stage and can therefore see the actors at all times. The department typically has one show a season in the Simpson Theater, but this is the first time in several years that it has been set up in the round style.

            “My favorite part of being in this production has been doing a show in the black box. I’ve never really had an opportunity to do a show in there, and this show takes place in the round, which means the audience is all around you, so it’s been really fun to dig into new acting skills. And there’s just nowhere to hide,” Zane Brewer, senior theater major from Conway, Arkansas

Joanna Crites plays Logan, a drama teacher and director who wants to put on a culturally and politically correct Thanksgiving play at her school.

Brewer plays Jaxton, Logan’s boyfriend, an actor in the play, and an ultimate yoga bro who is always ready to add his opinion.

Nico Stark plays Caden, a history teacher tasked with keeping the play historically accurate.

Kamyron Lefebvre plays Alicia, an actress hired by Logan as the Native American representation. Logan later finds out that Alicia is not actually Native American and only auditions for roles in different ethnicities. As no one is actually Native American, the four now have to come up with a way to tell the story of Thanksgiving with no native American representation.

This will be Crites’ first time in a leading role; she has been in an A-State production in the past, but it was more of an ensemble position.

“I think every show is very different; there’s really no comparing one show to another in my mind. I think that every cast and every crew, every director is different, and there’s just so much to love about each experience that I get to have. This is definitely the first time that I’ve had such a leading role, and so that’s been really exciting and different for me.”

The four become trapped in a never-ending spiral of social awareness, political correctness, and doing the ‘right thing.’ The audience is sure to leave laughing once they find out what the final concept is for the play they have spent so much time and turmoil putting together.

“Come see the show, ‘cause it’s fun. It’s Thanksgiving. Come out and have a good time. It’s a comedy and they’re gonna leave laughing, we promise. Like it’s really, really fun. They’re just gonna have a great time, it’s the holiday season, come on out people,” Brewer said.

There will be three more performances, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Fowler Center in the Simpson Theater, 201 Olympic Drive. You can purchase tickets online, at the A-State Box Office in First National Bank Arena or by calling  (870) 972-2781. For the general public, tickets are $15. A-State students are admitted free with their student ID.

-30-

JONESBORO, Ark.- The Arkansas State University Theater Department rounds out the Fall semester with a show with the perfect blend of satirical comedy and cultural commentary with “The Thanksgiving Play.”

            “The Thanksgiving Play” centers around a group of four well-intentioned educators who are trying to come up with and write a Thanksgiving pageant without any Native American representation, but they get trapped in a loop of being socially aware, political correctness and trying to do what they believe is ‘the right thing.’

            The play selection committee, which includes the director of The Thanksgiving Play, Dallas Martinez, as well as other professors in the theater department and three students, begins looking at plays for the next season almost a year in advance. They look at productions done in recent years and what the needs of students are.

            “We want our students to have a well-rounded resume when they graduate so that it doesn’t show that they have only done one thing. So we start thinking about the needs, such as have we done a language play. Have we done a particular type of musical that takes place in like a golden age versus a modern age? Have we done ensembles? Have we done farces? Things like that so that when they leave here they’re able to not just say, ‘I can only audition for blank,’ right,” Martinez said.

            This production takes place in a round in their black box  Simpson theater. A round is when the audience is on all sides of the stage and can therefore see the actors at all times. The department typically has one show a season in the Simpson Theater, but this is the first time in several years that it has been set up in the round style.

            “My favorite part of being in this production has been doing a show in the black box. I’ve never really had an opportunity to do a show in there, and this show takes place in the round, which means the audience is all around you, so it’s been really fun to dig into new acting skills. And there’s just nowhere to hide,” Zane Brewer, senior theater major from Conway, Arkansas

Joanna Crites plays Logan, a drama teacher and director who wants to put on a culturally and politically correct Thanksgiving play at her school.

Brewer plays Jaxton, Logan’s boyfriend, an actor in the play, and an ultimate yoga bro who is always ready to add his opinion.

Nico Stark plays Caden, a history teacher tasked with keeping the play historically accurate.

Kamyron Lefebvre plays Alicia, an actress hired by Logan as the Native American representation. Logan later finds out that Alicia is not actually Native American and only auditions for roles in different ethnicities. As no one is actually Native American, the four now have to come up with a way to tell the story of Thanksgiving with no native American representation.

This will be Crites’ first time in a leading role; she has been in an A-State production in the past, but it was more of an ensemble position.

“I think every show is very different; there’s really no comparing one show to another in my mind. I think that every cast and every crew, every director is different, and there’s just so much to love about each experience that I get to have. This is definitely the first time that I’ve had such a leading role, and so that’s been really exciting and different for me.”

The four become trapped in a never-ending spiral of social awareness, political correctness, and doing the ‘right thing.’ The audience is sure to leave laughing once they find out what the final concept is for the play they have spent so much time and turmoil putting together.

“Come see the show, ‘cause it’s fun. It’s Thanksgiving. Come out and have a good time. It’s a comedy and they’re gonna leave laughing, we promise. Like it’s really, really fun. They’re just gonna have a great time, it’s the holiday season, come on out people,” Brewer said.

There will be three more performances, 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 2:30 p.m. Sunday, at the Fowler Center in the Simpson Theater, 201 Olympic Drive. You can purchase tickets online, at the A-State Box Office in First National Bank Arena or by calling  (870) 972-2781. For the general public, tickets are $15. A-State students are admitted free with their student ID.

-30-