OPINION: Turkey Day
Senya Scott ‘26
As part of Sarah Lawrence's mainstage, "First Look Reading Series'' Turkey Day premiered on Wednesday, September 27th. The play was written by Maegan Murphy (MFA '24) and directed by second-year graduate student Julia Vantrees-Cowitt (MFA '24). Turkey Day was a partially autobiographical play that highlighted very intense and complex themes of difficult family dynamics, abuse of power and authority, and sexual assault.
The play starts with close friends, Scott Cooper and Camilla Cunningham, played by Jake Charleston-Camp ‘26 and Gabrielle Martinez '24. Scott and Camilla are both close friends with Amanda Moore and her family has taken them both in as their own over the years. Just before leaving for Thanksgiving dinner at the Moore household, Camille reveals that she was sexually assaulted by Rich Moore after he picked her up one day from a car crash. The two of them grapple with their relationship with the family at the Thanksgiving table.
There was a nice balance between the seriousness and the comedic relief in the play. Specifically, with the presence of Amanda’s boyfriend Kevin, played by Hasan Ul Haq, and her mother Mariah Moore, played by Rebecca Woldenberg. Between Woldenberg’s fabulous cackle and Ul Haq’s angry one-liners, they made a good team in placing mental breaks throughout the progression of the script. Woldenberg took on the motherly role with so much charisma and personable character. Their performances highlighted the complex relationships in Mariah’s life and helped pinpoint her character's more timid and uncomfortable sides.
The entrance of Amanda’s father, Rich Moore, creates a huge tonal shift in the reading. He continues to make sexual advances towards Camille throughout the dinner, and we see Scott step in and try to divert the attention away from her. The climax happens when Camilla very assertively stops Scott from touching her and exposes what he did to her after the car crash. This completely derails the dinner and we see some more strong acting from Rebecca Woldenberg, as her character finds out what her husband has done. There were some elements there that felt a bit rushed in how quickly things had escalated between Rich and Camille. Because they were in a family setting, the way Moore behaved around Camille could’ve shown some more depth and tension. Rich Moore needed some more development character-wise to help make his actions seem more realistic.
On the topic of characters, each of them had distinct personality traits and it made them more enjoyable to watch. Those traits needed to be fleshed out more and given a bit more complexity and dimension. For the most part, I felt as though I couldn’t pinpoint the actions of each person with what they did or how they reacted to the people around them. Because Rick Moore enters pretty late into the play, his quickness to violate Camille felt polar to the type of character we were told he was. This role could hone in on the true manipulation tactics that abusers within family/friend dynamics use. Stretching out his “nice guy” act a little further before he begins to show his true colors would also make him more consistent as a character.
Turkey Day is a story about sexual assault and the struggle to be seen and heard as a survivor. Camille may represent so many survivors of sexual assault who find themselves in very strange and scary relationships and power dynamics. This reading also sheds light on how difficult holidays can be. We see so much trauma resurfacing for not only Camille but for Scott too. The Thanksgiving dinner in a way reminded him of how much his direct family dynamics have changed.
In true Sarah Lawrence fashion, there was a collaborative workshop discussion between the viewers and the playwright, the director, and the actors. During the workshop, audience members were invited to give constructive feedback, a unique and rewarding part of the “First Look Series”. The audience mainly consisted of Sarah Lawrence theater students and parents, the crew, and the cast. It was a very supportive and uplifting group of people who gave thoughtful feedback on how they felt the play could be improved.
An incredibly funny interaction between director Vantrees-Cowitt and her mother took place at the start of the workshop. Her mother was recounting a funny moment where Amanda’s mother exposed her IBS to her boyfriend before dinner. She proceeded to have a motherly exposure moment where she began to speak on how Vantress-Cowitt has a “special stomach” like the character Amanda. The very Amanda and Mariah interaction sent the whole room soaring with laughter. Vantress-Cowitt then cut the comedy short by saying, “Let’s get back to the task at hand,” and we proceeded into the discussion.
Some felt as though Camille and Scott’s characters could be better fleshed out, others had some concerns about plot holes in the storyline. Playwright Murphy received all of these critiques with lots of grace and understanding. She seemed very open and almost eager to receive the feedback that those in the room had ready for her. The audience, cast, and crew then took turns describing the play in one word.
Murphy ended the night by telling the audience her take on the show, “This is a play about being believed.”