The Thanksgiving Play

Content Warning: This section discusses anti-Indigenous racism and the genocide of Indigenous Americans.

Logan, a white woman who is “always pushing the envelope in potentially inappropriate ways” (7), is the play’s protagonist. As the director of the piece that the characters are supposed to be devising, she drives the action by running the rehearsal. She is also the only dynamic character, although the change she experiences may only involve becoming more honest about who she is and what she wants rather than any sort of cultural enlightenment.

Logan began her career with aspirations of acting, but she only lasted six weeks in Los Angeles before moving back to the unspecified town where the play takes place, convinced that she wasn’t conventionally pretty enough to make it in such a shallow environment. She spins her extremely quick capitulation to her insecurities as reaching a greater level of empowerment, claiming to be much more fulfilled as a high school drama teacher. She likewise takes a condescending approach toward Alicia, seeing her as someone who needs her guidance; to feel good about her own choices, Logan must reconcile Alicia’s contentedness with her choice to be an actor, which she can only do if she views Alicia as unenlightened.