EPAC Delivers Quirky Satire in a Shifting Political Climate
The Ephrata Performing Arts Center continues its 2026 season with Larissa FastHorse’s THE THANKSGIVING PLAY. This satirical comedy premiered on Broadway in 2018, making FastHorse the first female Native American playwright to have a play produced on Broadway.
Determined to stage a culturally conscious Thanksgiving pageant for Native American Heritage Month, four white educator/actors inadvertently set off a crisis of authenticity. When their prospective “Native American” star is revealed to be a white actress who frequently plays marginalized ethnicities, the project collapses into chaos. Forced to confront their own privilege, the team attempts to appease school district guidelines while grappling with historical reality—ultimately revealing how easily noble intentions degenerate into performative fluff.
Gabrielle Sheller delivers a sharp performance as Logan, demonstrating how progressive rhetoric can easily mask unyielding ambition. Sean Caldwell strikes the right balance as Jaxton, her eco-conscious, busker-turned-actor boyfriend, while Bobby Checchia plays Caden with a mix of elementary-teacher awkwardness and obsessive historical devotion. Completing the ensemble, Gabi Hondorp captures the unbothered glamour of Alicia, an L.A. actress content with playing typecast roles for a quick and easy paycheck.
Director Ben Galosi’s production moves at a brisk pace, laced with crisp, occasionally stinging satire. Its ensemble of well-intentioned characters striving for righteous enlightenment calls to mind the affectionate parody of Christopher Guest’s Waiting for Guffman.
Ultimately, however, the production struggles to resonate—a casualty of a rapidly shifting political landscape. What felt like a timely lampooning of “wokeness” in 2018 now reads as outdated in 2026. As culture wars escalate toward censorship and authoritarian control, caricaturing hyper-progressive teachers feels like a trifle, a distraction from more pressing and urgent political threats.
THE THANKSGIVING PLAY
Ephrata Performing Arts Center
Runs thru September 13, 2026
Review submitted by:
Franklin Joseph
Author’s Bio:
Franklin Joseph is an avid theatre goer who takes delight in the active theatre arts community of the southeast Pennsylvania region.
