[GHENT, NY] The Ghent Playhouse announces the first production of its 2025-26 season, “The Thanksgiving Play.” Written by Larissa FastHorse and directed by Brian Wagner, this satirical comedy centers around a group of well-meaning but culturally insensitive theater artists who attempt to create a politically correct school play about the first Thanksgiving. The show will run Friday through Sunday, October 17-26. The freshly painted Ghent Playhouse is located at 6 Town Hall Place. Tickets go on sale September 1 and can be purchased at GhentPlayhouse.org.
“At a time where the “woke” and “anti-woke” factions of our country are at odds with each other, this play delivers its message in a way that I think both sides will relate to and find funny as well as insightful,” said Wagner. The show challenges: When is being politically correct not helpful or actively harmful? And is it even possible to promote different cultures without including the voices of people from those cultures?
“You may wonder why a show called ‘The Thanksgiving Play’ is being performed in early October. The show isn’t really about Thanksgiving, instead it explores broader themes of racism and how history is remembered,” said Ghent Playhouse Artistic Director Cathy Lee-Visscher. The show features Shannon Bell as Logan, Jody Green in the role of Jaxton, Kevin Kilb as Caden, and Carissa Palladino portrays Alicia.
Larissa FastHorse, is the first known female Native American writer to have a play on Broadway. “She has explained that she wrote the piece to hold a mirror up to well-meaning white people so that they can see themselves the way she sees them,” said Wagner. “But this is done in such a laugh out loud funny way that it sweetens the satirical bite and, by the end of the play, has given the audience much to chew on as they head home.”
“The Thanksgiving Play” runs two consecutive weekends: October 17-19 and 24-26, Friday 8:00pm, Saturday 7:30pm and Sunday matinee at 2:00pm. Tickets are available online only: $23 for members, $28 for nonmembers, and $12 for students. Tickets and memberships can be purchased at GhentPlayhouse.org with no additional processing fees. For more information about this show and other upcoming events, visit ghentplayhouse.org, email theghentplayhouse@gmail.com or call (518) 392-6264.
The Ghent Playhouse is an award-winning, non-profit, volunteer-run community theater drawing talent from the Hudson Valley and beyond. The historic building is equipped with comfortable seating, modern accessible restrooms and air conditioning, in addition to a set shop, dressing rooms, kitchenette, costume storage and sophisticated lighting and sound systems.
