In this episode I speak with actor Katlyn Bowie and stage manager Maddie Kraus both Fort Lewis College students about the performance of Thanksgiving Play. We are also joined by James Padilla, Fort Lewis College Tech Director.

Four Corners Arts Forum

Join me for a conversation about the upcoming performance at the Fort Lewis College Main Stage Theatre titled The Thanksgiving Play a satirical comedy written by Larissa FastHorse, a Native American playwright. She began her career in Native American film before becoming a playwright and this play made it onto the list of one of the top 10 most produced plays in the US. The play which is directed by Felicia Meyer, Artistic Director and Chair of the Performing Arts Department is mostly student driven, and joining me today are students Maddie Krause as stage manager and Katelyn Bowie a musical theatre major and actor in the play. Also in the studio with me this morning is James Padilla, Fort Lewis College Theatre Tech Director. Maddie shares with us her job responsibilities as stage manager which include coordinating the rehearsal schedules, lighting, sound, timing, cues and maintaining props. The students are also responsible for costume designs. Katelyn who plays the part of Logan in the production grew up in a theatrical household in southern California and began acting at the age of eight. The play is a comedic satire, the premise being that a group of four well-meaning but culturally insensitive white theater artists attempt to create a Thanksgiving Play for Native American Heritage month for elementary school children. Unfortunately they fail miserably in the process of struggling to tell the “true” story of Thanksgiving and include the Native American perspective. Felicia Meyer, the director, will give a pre-show talk to put the play in context and also after the performance will offer an optional discussion between some of the cast/crew and the audience about themes raised in the play. There’ll be a trigger warning at the theater as well as on the ticketing link, and they don’t recommend the production for people under 14. Larissa FastHorse is a member of the Sicangu Lakota Nation and is now based in Santa Monica, California. She is a 2020 MacArthur Fellow, award winning writer/choreographer, and co-founder of Indigenous Direction, the nation’s leading consulting company for Indigenous arts and audiences.

The play runs from October 4-6 and 10-12 at 7:30pm at the Main Stage Theatre. For tickets visit the website durangoconcerts.com.