Overview
A Thanksgiving play called by sports announcers. Every family holiday is full of tradition. Every family holiday is full of strife and joy. Where do our traditions come from? Why do we hold so tightly to them? Join the family at Wembley Stadium as they play the game called Thanksgiving Day: a day of gratitude in which we watch some people knock some other people down in order to get the ball over the line.
Casting & Production
Casting
THE ANNOUNCERS
#: in charge of action. Professional talker, fast-paced and
leathery. Wearing professional headphones.
@: in charge of color commentary. Also a professional
talker, fast-paced and honey-voiced, also wearing profes-
sional headphones.
THE FAMILY
SnapDragon: Matriarch. Blind and Ceremonial. Wearing
Blu-Blockers*.
GrandDada: Patriarch. Deaf and Pragmatic. Wearing
giant hearing aids.
Trifle: Oldest daughter. Not like Olga.
Cherry Pie: Middle daughter. Not like Masha.
Cheesecake: Youngest daughter. Maybe a little like Irina.
Fred: Trifle’s husband
Ed: Cherry Pie’s husband
Ned: Cheesecake’s husband
Smilesinger: Daughter of Trifle & Fred
Smilesinger’s husband: Husband of Smilesinger
Brainerd: Son of Trifle & Fred. Absent.
Brainerd’s wife: Wife of Brainerd. Absent.
Gumbo: Daughter of Cherry Pie & Ed. Divorced.
The Twins: Sons of Cherry Pie & Ed
Wives of the Twins: Wives of the Twins. Nothing alike.
Runnerman: Son of Cheesecake & Ned. Single Parent.
Republican: Son of Cheesecake & Ned
Republican’s Wife: Wife of Republican. Weirdo.
Trainer: Daughter of Cheesecake & Ned
Trainer’s Partner: Partner of Trainer. A survivalist.
GreatGrandBabies: a herd of uncountable babies. Vora-
cious. On liquid diets. None of them belong to Gumbo.
Production Notes:
Off Broadway, the show, directed by Lee Sunday Evans, and starring Jessica Almasy, Gerry Bamman, Hubert Point-Du Jour, Christian Felix, Nina Hellman, Brooke Ishibashi, Mia Katigbak, Kristine Haruna Lee, Heather Alicia Simms and Ben Williams, opened at City Center Stage II on Jan. 15, 2015.
Reviews
“…deeply serious (as befits its chthonic setting) and riotously entertaining.”
-Jesse Green, Vulture
“Ms. Benson possesses a strikingly original voice…”
-Charles Isherwood, The New York Times
