THE THANKSGIVING PLAY Program

a staged reading of The Thanksgiving Play by LARISSA FASTHORSE

Directed by Chase Bringardner

a staged reading of The Thanksgiving Play by LARISSA FASTHORSE

Directed by Chase Bringardner

Cast and Setting

Logan

Nick DiJulio

Hali Everette Jaxton

Alicia

Stage Directions

Tapley Cronier

Avonlea Yeakley Caden

Cecilia Frederick

A high school drama classroom anywhere but the Los Angeles area

The reading will run approximately 80 minutes without an intermission.

Director’s Note

Larissa FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play invites audiences to laugh collectively at the absurdities of our contemporary world, at the difficulties of grappling with our histories, and at the lengths individuals will go to for others to perceive them as right or correct. Specifically, her characters wrestle with embodiment and how we tell our own stories and the stories of others. In a society where information travels at a breakneck speed and social media shapes and reshapes identities with a click of the finger, this piece reminds us of the challenges of collaboration and the incredible labor— emotional, physical, and otherwise—that educators undertake. Using the language of satire, FastHorse highlights the potential (perhaps inevitable) pitfalls of representation and invites audiences into the messiness of process.

FastHorse’s The Thanksgiving Play also importantly offers our students the unique opportunity to work on a script at a critical juncture in its development. In spring 2023, The Thanksgiving Play will premiere at the Helen Hayes Theatre in New York City and mark the first play by an Indigenous woman to open on Broadway. Through this staged reading, our students have the chance to dive deep into this script and explore FastHorse’s words and world and share this hilarious and biting new text with the campus and Auburn communities.

– Chase Bringardner, Director

Why A Staged Reading?

The staged reading format offers audiences a different kind of engagement with performers and performance text. Rehearsed over a compact three-week period, this production places an emphasis on the playwright’s words and provides audiences an opportunity to encounter the play in a different way than that of a show fully produced with all manner of spectacle.

Join the Conversation

Tonight’s performance will be followed by a talkback session with the cast and director. We hope you will stay to have a conversation with us about your experience of the reading and the play’s themes and ideas.

Special Thanks

Auburn University Theatre and Dance gratefully acknowledges support for this production from the Office of the Provost of Auburn University. We also wish to thank the following individuals:

Jenny Kennedy Danielle Simmons Matthew/Maddie Smith

Anna Turpen

Cassie Vitale

Production Team

Technical Director: Matt Gist

Assistant Technical Director/ Master Electrician: Cameron Lucas Costume Shop Manager: Jennifer Salter

Stage Manager: Sarah Chandler House Manager: Antonisia Collins

Company Bios

Tapley Cronier (Caden) is a theatre and psychology major from Montgomery, AL. Auburn University Theatre and Dance credits include Spring Awakening (Otto), Into the Woods (The Steward), and Our Town (George Gibbs/Ensemble).

Nick DiJulio (Jaxton) is a Junior BFA performance and visual media studies major from Auburn, AL. He is a proud member of campus organizations such as Generation Action, the Auburn Sustenance Project, AU New Media Club, and Mosaic Theatre Company. He's happy to be part of his sixth mainstage production with AU Theatre and Dance.

Hali Everette (Logan) is a sophomore BFA music theatre major from Fairhope, AL. Her previous roles include High School Musical (Sharpay), Annie (Miss Hannigan), and James and the Giant Peach (Aunt Sponge).

Cecilia Frederick (Stage Directions) is a sophomore theatre major from Baltimore, MD. Her previous roles include The Wolves (#25), Pillow (Wilma), Suessical (The Cat in the Hat), and Once Upon a Mattress (The Minstrel).

Avonlea Yeakley (Alicia) is a junior BFA performance major and dance minor from Houston, TX. Their previous AU Theatre and Dance credits include The Butch and the Fairy/Aurora (The Fairy/Halen), A Doll’s House (Anne-Marie), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Hermia), and the 2021 Senior Directed Scenes. She is a proud member of Mosaic Theatre Company and AU Players, and works as student staff in the costume shop. She is so excited to be involved with this hilarious satire and hopes you all enjoy the show!

THANK YOU, DONORS!

We are profoundly grateful to our generous donors. Every gift helps to support the work of our department and our incredible theatre and dance students.

Ann Beale

Dr. Lourdes Betanzos

Lee Bryan Ashley Butler Pallie & Kyle Butler

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Dr. Jane Dailey Hollis

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We need your permission to list your name. This listing includes all donors who have given us permission to list as of the time of printing. If your name is missing and you’d like to be included, please contact us to be added to the next program.

Support Theatre and Dance at Auburn

We are especially in need of gifts to support our Theatre and Dance Scholarship Fund. Our students depend on scholarship support to keep up rigorous academic and creative schedules, and to balance the various aspects of student life.

Every gift, no matter the size, will make a difference!

This academic year marks the 109th season of theatre and dance at Auburn University. Our theme for this season –“& Dance”– celebrates the recent addition of “and Dance” to the title of our department in recognition of the incredible efforts of students, faculty, and staff throughout the years to bring dance to our classrooms and stages. While dance has long been a vital, valued, and visible part of our production season through annual dance concerts and musical theatre performances, our hope with this celebration is to shine light on the ways dance informs and infuses the work of our entire department, onstage and off.

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theatre students are truly some of the hardest working students on campus. They build sets, design costumes, analyze texts, focus lights, set choreography, direct scenes, manage shows, engineer sound, learn lines, conduct research, write critiques, and everything in-between. Your gift to our scholarship fund will help support the work and well-being of our incredible student citizen artists.

Photos by Jeff Etheridge

DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE

Our Mission

Theatre has the potential to foster dialogue, alter perceptions, and inspire social change. The Auburn University Department of Theatre and Dance is dedicated to the education and professional training of theatre artists, scholars, and audiences within a liberal arts environment.

The Department champions the interaction between theory and practice and produces citizen artists who advocate for the arts through their own work in local, national, and international communities.

Auburn University theatre and dance students think critically, creatively, and collaboratively and carry their knowledge from rehearsal spaces and classrooms to stages, campuses, and communities worldwide.

Learn more about our department and degree tracks at: auburnuniversitytheatre.org

Administrative Staff

Department Chair: Chase Bringardner

Office Administrators: Becky Henderson, Hannah Herndon Marketing Coordinator: Magalí Zaslabsky

Graphic Designer: Ashley Butler

Student Staff:

Box Office Assistants: Olivia Beland, Antonisia Collins, Presley McQuiddy-Gasparlin, Sydney Pereira, Madeline Schlaman

Costume Studio Assistants: Camryn Chapman, Mary Grace Sullivan, Avonlea Yeakley Paints & Props Assistant: Claudia Peeples

Production Assistant: Antonavia Collins

Marketing/Recruitment Assistants: Nikki Ahlf, Bethany Novotny, Ella Taylor

Scenic Studio Assistants: Annabell Mallard, Matthew/Maddie Smith

Sound & Lighting Assistant: Katie Wolfe

Wig Assistants: Whitley Adams, Fox Snead

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Auburn University is an equal opportunity educational institution/employer.

Top and center photos by Jeff Etheridge; bottom photo by Ashley Butler