Geffen Playhouse Announces Cast for “The Thanksgiving Play”

GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE ANNOUNCES CAST FOR “THE THANKSGIVING PLAY”

FEATURING NOAH BEAN, ALEXANDRA HENRIKSON,
TONY SANDREW AND SAMANTHA SLOYAN

WRITTEN BY LARISSA FASTHORSE AND DIRECTED BY MICHAEL JOHN GARCÉS

PREVIEWS BEGIN OCTOBER 22 - OPENING NIGHT IS OCTOBER 31

LOS ANGELES (September 23, 2019) – Geffen Playhouse today announced the full cast for its production of The Thanksgiving Play, written by Larissa FastHorse (What Would Crazy Horse Do?, Landless) and directed by Michael John Garcés (Urban Rez, The Royale).

The cast features Noah Bean (The Whirligig, Marjorie Prime) as Jaxton, Alexandra Henrikson (Fish in the Dark, The Snow Geese) as Alicia, Tony Sandrew (Million Dollar Quartet, The Foreigner) as Caden and Samantha Sloyan (Ellis Island: The Dream of America, Munched) as Logan.

Previews for The Thanksgiving Play begin Tuesday, October 22 in the Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse. Opening night is Thursday, October 31.

How does one celebrate Thanksgiving and Native American Heritage Month at the same time? In Larissa FastHorse’s biting satire, this is the question facing three “woke” white thespians tasked with devising an elementary school pageant about the first Thanksgiving while avoiding any culturally appropriative missteps. A roast of the politics of entertainment and well-meaning political correctness alike, The Thanksgiving Play puts the American origin story itself in the comedy-crosshairs.

Playwrights Horizons, Inc., New York City, produced the world premiere of The Thanksgiving Play in 2018.

The Thanksgiving Play was commissioned and originally produced by Artists Repertory Theatre (Damaso Rodriguez, Artistic Director; Sarah Horton, Managing Director; Portland, Oregon).

THE THANKSGIVING PLAY

Written by Larissa FastHorse
Directed by Michael John Garcés

Previews: Tuesday, October 22 – Wednesday, October 30, 2019
Opening Night: Thursday, October 31, 2019
Closing Night: Sunday, December 1, 2019

CAST
Noah Bean as Jaxton
Alexandra Henrikson as Alicia
Tony Sandrew as Caden
Samantha Sloyan as Logan

PRODUCTION TEAM
Scenic Designer Sara Ryung Clement
Costume Designer Garry Lennon
Lighting Designer Tom Ontiveros
Sound Designer Cricket S. Myers
Production Stage Manager Samantha Cotton
Casting Director Phyllis Schuringa, CSA

PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Monday: No performance
Tuesday – Friday: 8:00 p.m.
Saturday: 3:00 and 8:00 p.m.
Sunday: 2:00 and 7:00 p.m.

LOCATION
Audrey Skirball Kenis Theater at Geffen Playhouse
10886 Le Conte Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90024

TICKET INFORMATION
Tickets currently priced at $30.00 - $120.00. Available in person at the Geffen Playhouse box office, by phone at 310.208.5454 or online at www.geffenplayhouse.org. Fees may apply.

Rush tickets for each day’s performance are made available to the general public 30 minutes before showtime at the box office. $35.00 General/$15.00 Student

COLLEGE AUDIENCES
Through a variety of events and other opportunities, the Geffen Playhouse welcomes college students to experience the live storytelling presented on our stages. We are proud of our association with UCLA’s School of Theater, Film, and Television, and open our doors to all college students throughout Los Angeles. More information is available at www.geffenplayhouse.org/college.

ABOUT THE ARTISTS

Larissa FastHorse (Playwright)
Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota) is an award winning writer. Larissa's produced plays include The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons), What Would Crazy Horse Do? (KCRep), Urban Rez / Native Nation / Lakota Project Trilogy (Cornerstone Theater Company, ASU Gammage), Landless and Cow Pie Bingo (AlterTheater), Average Family (Children’s Theater Company of Minneapolis), Teaching Disco Squaredancing to Our Elders: a Class Presentation (Native Voices at the Autry), Vanishing Point (Eagle Project) and Cherokee Family Reunion (Mountainside Theater). Additional theaters that have commissioned or developed plays with Larissa include Yale Rep, History Theater, Kennedy Center TYA, Baltimore’s Center Stage, Arizona Theater Company, Mixed Blood, Perseverance Theater Company, The Lark Playwrights Week, the Center Theatre Group Writer’s Workshop and Berkeley Rep’s Ground Floor. Larissa has recently returned to film and television writing. She is currently writing a movie for the Disney Channel and co-creating a new series with Courtney Hoffman for Freeform as well as developing several scripts. Larissa’s awards include the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for an American Playwright, NEA Distinguished New Play Development Grant, Joe Dowling Annamaghkerrig Fellowship, AATE Distinguished Play Award, Inge Residency, Sundance/Ford Foundation Fellowship, Aurand Harris Fellowship, the UCLA Native American Program Woman of the Year and numerous Creative Capital, MAP Fund, Ford, Mellon and NEA Grants. Larissa is the vice chair of the board of directors of Theater Communications group and represented by Jonathan Mills at Paradigm NY. She lives in Santa Monica with her husband, the sculptor Edd Hogan.

Michael John Garcés (Director)
Michael John Garcés is the artistic director of Cornerstone Theatre Company, a community-engaged ensemble based in Los Angeles. He has directed two other plays by Larissa FastHorse, Urban Rez (Cornerstone) and Native Nation (ASU Gammage). Other recent directing projects include The Royale (Arizona Theatre Company), the just and the blind by Marc Bamuthi Joseph and Daniel Bernard Roumain (Carnegie Hall and Kennedy Center), Epic by Ellen Struve (Great Plains Theatre Conference), What Happens Next by Naomi Iizuka (La Jolla Playhouse), The Arsonists by Max Frisch (Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company), and Wrestling Jerusalem by Aaron Davidman (various venues including The Guthrie Theatre, The Cleveland Public Theatre and Philadelphia Theatre Company). Other projects in Los Angeles include Café Vida by Lisa Loomer (Cornerstone), Seven Spots on the Sun by Martín Zimmerman (The Theatre @ Boston Court) and red, black and GREEN: a blues by Marc Bamuthi Joseph (REDCAT). He will be directing Seize the King by Will Power at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta in February. Michael is a recipient of the Princess Grace Statue Award, the Alan Schneider Director Award and the TCG/New Generations Grant. He serves as vice president of the executive board of SDC, the theatrical union for stage directors and choreographers.

Noah Bean (as Jaxton)
Bean’s New York theater credits include The Whirligig (The New Group), Marjorie Prime (Playwrights Horizon), One Arm (The New Group), Yellow Face (The Public Theater), Mary Rose (The Vineyard Theater), Voyage of the Carcass (SOHO Playhouse), The Rise and Fall of Annie Hall (Acorn), among others. Regionally he has appeared at The Old Globe, Williamstown Theater Festival, The Mark Taper Forum, Bay Street Theater, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and The Huntington Theater where he received both Eliot Norton and IRNE Award nominations in William Inge’s Bus Stop. Bean’s television credits include series regular roles in Damages for FX, the CW’s Nikita, and 12 Monkeys for SyFy, as well as numerous other recurring and guest starring appearances. He received the Big Apple Film Festival’s rising star award for his leading role in the indie film The Pill. He will next be seen in the upcoming film The Report, produced by Steven Soderbergh.

Alexandra Henrikson (as Alicia)
Alexandra Henrikson is thrilled to be making her Geffen debut. She most recently appeared in FX’s What We Do In The Shadows and Netflix’s Maniac. Broadway credits include Larry David's Fish in the Dark (Cort Theater), The Snow Geese (MTC u/s). Select theater credits: Steve Martin’s world premiere Meteor Shower (Old Globe), Ironbound (Roundhouse - Helen Hayes Nomination), We Play for the Gods (Women's Project), Hell House (St. Ann's Warehouse), Taming of the Shrew (Chicago Shakespeare Theater - Jeff Award Nomination), Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls (Alliance - Suzi Bass Award), Tall Girls (The O'Neill), Much Ado About Nothing (Smith Street Stage), Candida and Taming of the Shrew (California Shakespeare Theater). Film: Here We Are in the Present...Again, Love Like Gold, Towheads, Alex’s Exes. She is the creator/writer of the Jenna Fischer executive-produced National Parker at WB Studios. Training: NYU BFA, Yale MFA, Upright Citizens Brigade.

Tony Sandrew (as Caden)
Tony Sandrew is thrilled to be making his debut at the Geffen Playhouse. Theatre credits include Million Dollar Quartet, The Foreigner, The Cave Dwellers, and Tony N Tina’s Wedding. Film: TV credits include Just Add Magic, The Game, and Howie Mandel’s Animals Doing Things. Tony studied theatre at The Ohio State University and is a graduate of The New York Conservatory for Dramatic Arts. Thanks to his family and friends for their support, especially his beautiful and talented wife Caroline who happens to be an amazing high school theatre teacher. @TonySandrew

Samantha Sloyan (as Logan)
Samantha is proud to be making her Geffen Playhouse debut. Theatre credits include the world premiere of Jon Robin Baitz’s Vicuña at the Kirk Douglas Theatre, Ellis Island: The Dream of America at The Segerstrom Center for the Arts as part of the PBS Great Performances series, Buzzworks’ Munched for which she received the LADCC and LA WEEKLY awards and most recently Crimson Square’s production of Dinner with Friends. Samantha can be seen in Netflix’s Haunting of Hill House as well as recent appearances on Seal Team, Animal Kingdom, Proven Innocent and The Good Doctor. She is best known for her arc as Dr. Penelope Blake on Grey’s Anatomy. Love and many thanks to her Family, as always.

OPENING NIGHT SPONSORS
Audi of America
City National Bank
Fellow
Hint
Kind

ABOUT GEFFEN PLAYHOUSE
Geffen Playhouse has been a hub of the Los Angeles theater scene since opening its doors in 1995. Noted for its intimacy and celebrated for its world-renowned mix of classic and contemporary plays, provocative new works and second productions, the not-for-profit organization continues to present a body of work that has garnered national recognition. Named in honor of entertainment mogul and philanthropist David Geffen, who made the initial donation to the theater, the company was founded by Gilbert Cates and is currently helmed by Executive Director Gil Cates, Jr., Artistic Director Matt Shakman and Board Chair Howard Tenenbaum. Proudly associated with UCLA, the Geffen welcomes an audience of more than 130,000 each year, and maintains extensive education and community engagement programs, designed to involve underserved young people and the community at large in the arts. www.geffenplayhouse.org

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