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 professional 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. Voracious. On liquid diets. None of them belong to Gumbo.
A Note on the Casting:
Age matters. People who have been alive longer than other people know things that the younger people do not.
Racial, religious, and physical resemblances should be resisted. Make it look American, as diverse as the streets in a large city. Please.
Setting
A sports arena—of sorts—on the shores of the Great Lakes, reminiscent of being Home for the Holidays.
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
