Production History

Although The Thanksgiving Play is about Native American Month and Thanksgiving, it was originally written in an estate in the countryside of Ireland. Larissa FastHorse was awarded the Joe Dowling Annaghmakerrig Fellowship in 2015 from Joseph Haj at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis. Within this fellowship she could go to Tyrone Guthrie’s estate in Ireland, which is where she began writing the play. Having conceived and researched the idea in the USA, she then wrote the first draft in a mere ten days while in the Irish countryside.

After its Irish beginnings, The Thanksgiving Play then moved to U.C. Berkeley in 2015 for its first reading and a workshop. At Berkeley, it was directed by Paige Johnson and cast with students of the New Play Practicum.

The Thanksgiving Play then moved to Portland, Oregon at the Artists Repertory Theatre where a reading of it was done for the staff of the theatre.

After Portland, The Thanksgiving Play was a part of the fall Play Lab during the 2016/2017 season at Center Stage in Baltimore, Maryland. It was directed by Gavin Witt, who is also the Associate Director and Director of Dramaturgy at Center Stage. The play had its world premiere, back at Artists Repertory Theatre in their 2017/2018 season before moving to its Off-Broadway debut directed by Moritz von Stuelpnagel, at Playwrights Horizons in New York City in October of 2018.

After its brief stay in Baltimore, The Thanksgiving Play went back to Portland for a table/room/stage finishing Commission at the Artists Rep. After Portland, there was another workshop in early 2017 at The Playwrights' Center in Minneapolis and a full production in November, 2019, at the Geffen Playhouse in Los Angeles, California. An online production starring Bobby Cannavale, Keanu Reeves, Heidi Schreck and Alia Shawkat and directed by Leigh Silverman was produced in March 2021. The text was updated to reflect the new context, with the characters rehearsing the titular play over Zoom. The performance included interstitials directed, designed, and performed by Ty Defoe.

The play was brought to Pittsburgh, PA in November 2021 by Arcade Comedy Theater.

The play will make its Broadway debut at the Hayes Theater in spring 2023 in a production directed by Rachel Chavkin.