2021-2022 Season
“The Thanksgiving Play”
By Larissa FastHorse
November 5, 2021 - November 20, 2021
Nov. 5, 6, 11, 12, 13, 18, 19, and 20 at 8 pm; Nov. 7 and 14 at 2 pm
Premiered November 2021
Presented by iTheatre Collaborative
In this fast-paced satire by Larissa FastHorse (Sicangu Lakota Nation), good intentions collide with absurd assumptions, as a troupe of terminally "woke" teaching artists scrambles to create a pageant that somehow manages to celebrate both Turkey Day and Native American Heritage Month.
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Cast (Alphabetically)
Scott Hyder
as Caden
Scott is honored to be back at iTheatre Collaborative, working with some of the best professionals on and off stage. This is Scott's first show since the pandemic commenced 20 months ago. He previously appeared here in Church and State (Senator Whitmore), one of his favorite shows of all-time. Scott has performed in many other shows around town, including Gypsy (Herbie), Anything Goes (Moonface), God of Carnage (Alan), Follies (Buddy), One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest (Dale Harding), Life X 3 (Hubert), Almost Maine, Annie (Warbucks), Noises Off (Frederick), Deathtrap (Sidney), and Man of La Mancha (Sancho). He received AriZoni nominations for his performances in A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum (Pseudolus), Boeing, Boeing (Robert), and The Producers (Max Bialystock). Scott has also performed in several musicrevues at the Herberger's Lunch Time Theater. Special thanks to Chris and Rosie for this incredible privilege. Much love to Claudia, his wife and number one fan.
Toni Kallen
as Logan
Toni has been doing theater in the Valley off and on for 25 years. Her most recent roles were that of Matilda du Mortier Winchester in Murder in Paradise at Silver Star Theater, Christina Drayton in Guess Who's Coming to Dinner at Don Bluth Front Row Theater, and Georgeanne in 5 Women Wearing the Same Dress at Stage Left Theater. When not acting, Toni is a jewelry designer and artist, spending most of her time in her studio. She would like to thank Christopher Haines for the wonderful opportunity to be in this production, with a big shout out to her friends, who always manage to support her no matter what (you know who you are).
Josh Kontak
as Jaxton
Josh is elated to be in his first show since the beginning of the pandemic and his debut with iTheatre Collaborative. Previous favorite roles include Judas in Jesus Christ Superstar, Biff Loman in Death of a Salesman and Curly in Oklahoma! for which he won an AriZoni Theatre Award of Excellence. Josh is an attorney who volunteers with refugee assistance agencies,sings with rock cover bands and has healthy obsessions with mountain hiking and world history.Josh is blessed to have had the support of so many friends and family members in recent months and looks forward to channeling that positive energy into greatness and perhaps even world dominance.
Emily Mohney
as Alicia
Emily has worked the last decade in theaters across the Valley, including The Phoenix Theater Company, Stray Cat Theatre, Black Theater Troupe, Southwest Shakespeare Company, TheaterWorks, Blk Box PHX, and Flagstaff Shakespeare Festival.Favorite recentcredits include Shelby in Steel Magnolias, The Queen of Hearts in Curiouser & Curiouser Too, Evelyn Williams in American Psycho, Anne Sullivan in The Miracle Worker (ariZoni award), and Regan in King Lear. Love and gratitude to her incredibly supportive family and partner.
Playwright
Larissa FastHorse
Playwright
Larissa is an award-winning Sicangu Lakota playwright. Larissa's produced plays include The Thanksgiving Play (Playwrights Horizons, Artists Rep), What Would Crazy Horse Do? (KCRep, Relative Theatrics), Urban Rez (Cornerstone Theater Company, ASU Gammage, NEFA National tour, 2019-20), Landless and Cow Pie Bingo (AlterTheater), Average Family (Children's Theater Company of Minneapolis), Teaching Disco Square-dancing 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 The Production Team 15 include Yale Rep, HistoryTheater, 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's awards include the PEN/Laura Pels Theater Award for an American Playwright, NEA Distinguished New Play Development Grant, Joe Dowling Annamagh-kerrig 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, Ford, Mellon and NEA Grants. Larissa is the vice chair of the board of directors of heater Communications group and represented by Jonathan Mills at Paradigm NY. More info at hoganhorsestudio.com
Creative Team (Alphabetically)
Playwrights Horizons
Original Producer, New York
Playwrights Horizons is dedicated to cultivating the most important American playwrights, composers, and lyricists, as well as developing and producing their bold new plays and musicals. Tim Sanford became Artistic Director in 1996 and Leslie Marcus has been Managing Director since 1993. Under their decades of leadership, Playwrights builds upon its diverse and renowned body of work,counting 400 writers among its artistic roster. In addition to its onstage work each season, Playwrights' singular commitment to nurturing American theater artists guides all of the institution's multifaceted initiatives: our acclaimed New WorksLab, a robust commissioning program, an innovative curriculum at its Theater School, and more. Robert Moss founded Playwrights in 1971 and 22 cemented the mission that continues to guide the institution today. André Bishop served as Artistic Director from 1981-1992. Don Scardino succeeded him and served until 1996. Over its 47-year history, Playwrights has been recognized with numerous awards and honors, including six Pulitzer Prizes, 13 Tony Awards, and 39 Obie Awards.
Rosemary Close
Producer for iTheatre
Rosemary has been involved in theater in the Valley for over thirty years. Her work dates back as far as the Arizona Contemporary Theater Company, Northwest Studios and the Glendale Little Theater to name a few oldies. Her onstage credits include: Frozen, Harvey, Chapter Two, Barefoot in the Park, Cabaret, The Balcony, The Way We Live Now, Royal Gambit, Loves Scenes from Romeo and Juliet, Reel to Real, The Collected Works of Billy the Kid, The Maids, Skimpies and The Bad Seed. Her recent directing credits include: last season’s Velocity of Autumn and Hughie, previous season’s Grounded and An Almost Holy Picture. In 1991, Rosemary began her longtime association with the New York theater company, Mabou Mines. She appeared in numerous productions with that company both in Phoenix and New York. The highlight of that work with Mabou Mines was a leading role in the multimedia stage production, Wrath of Kali, directed by the award winning and acclaimed, Lee Breuer. Currently, she is the Managing Director for iTheatre Collaborative and is proud to be a part of the impact iTheatre has made in the Phoenix downtown community.
Christopher Haines
Director, Designer
Christopher is a theater veteran with over thirty years of experience as an actor, producer, stage manager, writer, director and designer. He graduated in 1991 from Duke University and in 2016 from Arizona State. Directing credits include: (for iTheatre) White Guy on the Bus, A Public Reading of an Unproduced Screenplay about the Death of Walt Disney, A Bad Friend, The Fish Must Die, Molly Sweeney, and Cat’s Paw. As a designer his work includes: Topdog/Underdog, A Raisin in the Sun, Gunplay, Peter Pan and Wendy, The Wizard of Oz, The Colored Museum, The House of Bernarda Alba, and Horn in the West, a 1500-seat outdoor amphitheater in Boone, N.C. In 1994, Mr. Haines collaborated with the internationally acclaimed director, Lee Breuer (founder of Mabou Mines), on his project Wrath of Kali, as the Director of Videography, both in its debut in Phoenix, AZ and in New York. Other design work in video, photography and media includes; the Daniel Lentz Group's “A Crack in the Bell,” such plays as Jack, Reel to Real, Romeo and Juliet, Sweet Thunder, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope, and he has worked as the Director of Photography on the feature films Wake of the Hero and Means of Escape and was the production designer for the independent film Hack. In 2002 he co-founded iTheatre Collaborative. His work at iTheatre has garnered national attention and recognition with invited performances at the National Black Theater Festival in Winston-Salem, N.C., the Black Arts Movement Festival in Austin, TX and the Last Frontier Theatre Conference in Valdez, AK. For iTheatre he has produced well-over sixty productions in the Valley with numerous regional and world premieres.
Jacob Nichols
Production Stage Manager, Media & Sound Designer
Jacob is an artist and recent graduate from ASU. Along with performing, he has directed two short films. Video and visual media production is where he is trained, but he has also worked to design projections and sounds for live stage performances. Jacob thanks his mother, friends, Charles St. Clair, and iTheatre for all of their support.