Interview: Erica Marie Weisz of THE THANKSGIVING PLAY at New Village Arts

Tracing your hands on construction paper to make a turkey, learning songs, or making costumes are some ways you may remember celebrating Thanksgiving in school.  Times have changed, and so has that celebration, and THE THANKSGIVING PLAY, a one-act comedy running at New Village Arts through November 3rd, pokes fun at a group of well-meaning but flawed teachers who are trying to come up with something that will work today.  Erica Marie Weisz, who plays Alicia, discusses her collaborative cast and this timely comedy.

This 90-minute satire asks the question: Is it possible for these well-intentioned elementary school teachers to create a culturally sensitive Thanksgiving play? Is it possible for them to create something politically correct that also has genuine understanding or Native representation?

Erica Marie Weisz is no stranger to comedy, having most recently been seen on the New Village Arts stage in the fast-paced comedy The 39 Steps. She now joins Kenny Bordieri, Samantha Ginn, and AJ Knox, with director Daniel Jáquez, in tackling this timely holiday-themed show.

“This comedic play, written by the first female Native American playwright to make it to Broadway, Larissa FastHorse, is a 90 min one-act taking a look into a few well-meaning people at their attempts to create a culturally-appropriate and historically accurate Thanksgiving Play to take around to schools.”

Erica Marie says that one fun change from her last role, which had many hidden layers, is that this character is more of a real-life person, which means the approach to this comedy has been a different process.

“My character, Alicia, breezes in with a cool LA vibe and maybe the least complicated character I’ve ever played. What you see is what you get with her, so it’s been an interesting challenge NOT to overthink her intentions. She is the epitome of simplicity in the very best way. Also, I get to eat and drink a LOT in this show on stage which makes me so happy.”

While the play will have audiences laughing, Weisz is also confident that the show will inspire interesting discussions about the characters and how our current society acknowledges this holiday.

“This play should have people having conversations about how far (or not) we’ve grown as a society. I think the playwright did a wonderful job at creating different distinct characters that everyone will be able to relate to in some way. It’s a comedy, but one that will hopefully inspire some important discussions and/or self-reflection.”

This comedic cast includes Kenny Bordierei and AJ Knox, whom Weisz worked with in “The 39 Steps,” and Samantha Ginn, who is no stranger to making San Diego audiences laugh. So, working on this production, along with director Daniel Jáquez, has been a wonderfully creative and fun experience.

“Kenny and I have known each other for years now - this will be our 4th time sharing the stage together!  He’s a great friend, and I’m so happy to be back at NVA with him. 

 Having only worked with AJ in the past with him being in the director role, to work along side him and see the comedic master create in the actor role is truly a treat! He’s got such wonderful ideas and timing.

I’ve been a Sam Ginn fan for a while have heard nothing but amazing things about her, being an actor, director, and teacher, so it’s been so lovely getting to know and work with Sam. It’s been especially fun seeing “teacher Sam” seep into her character “Logan”, and she’s an awesome dressing room buddy. 

This rehearsal process has been a wonderfully creative and fun experience. With such a small cast, it’s important we all trust one another on stage, and this happened so easily and naturally with this group. I give a lot of credit to our director, Daniél, who encourages a positive and collaborative environment for us.”

Erica Marie is excited for audiences to experience this play and looks forward to their reactions to the characters and everything that happens throughout the show.

“This show has a unique format in that there are a few interludes within the show that break us out of the “real world” of the play and allow us to be different characters in order to tell the FULL story the playwright intended to tell. I’m really looking forward to how the audience reacts to this!”

How To Get Tickets

“The Thanksgiving Play” is onstage at New Village Arts through November 3rd.  For ticket and show time information, go to www.newvillagearts.org 

 

Photo Credit:  Olivia Pence/New Village Arts

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