NPX Weekly Round-Up: Hunting Bigfoot by Theresa Giacopasi
A comedic treatise on American mythology, plus three other plays I've discovered this week.
No trigger warnings for this one! Happy reading :)
Mythology is a funny concept— what stories we choose to give the moniker to can say a lot about who we are, what we believe, and where we were raised. When I hear the word, my first thoughts are of Greek myths that I obsessed over in middle school after reading Percy Jackson for the first time. But the word can be applied to so many other stories and cultural touchstones. What are cryptids, conspiracy theories, and alien sightings if not modern day myths?
What, as well, are the stories of the early days of American history, if not a mythology that serves to create a romanticized version of “Being American”? Now, of course, there are things that definitely happened that we have evidence of, such as pivotal historical events. But there are other stories as well— stories of perhaps-real-perhaps-not figures like Johnny Appleseed (real person) and Paul Bunyan (not a real person). These are often categorized as quintessentially American myths, stories that inform us of early American values and ideas. So, when it comes to stories of monsters and creatures such as Mothman, the Jersey Devil, or Bigfoot…what do these stories— nay, myths!— tell us about American experiences, values, and notions of the “wild”?
That’s something that Theresa Giacopasi tackles in her play, Hunting Bigfoot.
Here’s a summary of the play from NPX:
In the writers' room for "Hunting BigFoot," the hot new BigFoot reality show, the two creators struggle to answer the question: who is BigFoot? From Teddy Roosevelt to Ken Burns to Oprah, our national cryptid reveals itself again and again, but becomes more mysterious each time it removes its mask. What's more American than BigFoot and reality television? And what does that mean for us?
There are two writers in this writers’ room, and they both want to make this show a hit— though one of them is a little more concerned with historical accuracy than the other. In this show concept, the writers acknowledge that Bigfoot is most likely not an actual creature, but rather is a sort of concept/mascot that is portrayed by American historical figures that just needed a dang break. They start out questioning who the first one to take up the mantle would have been and eventually settle on Theodore Roosevelt, known for his love of the American wilderness.
What ensues are hilarious historical (and ahistorical) tales of American “exceptionalism”, exploration, and exploitation that have the writers questioning not only what they’re trying to say with their show, but what effect stories and myths still have on modern day culture.
As an avid story-teller and story-consumer, I find a thesis such as this to be fascinating. After all, what makes us more human than stories? To our current knowledge, we are the only sentient species on Earth that participates in the creation and telling of stories (though I wouldn’t put it past apes or dolphins or whales to be doing something similar, to be honest). Mythology can be an incredibly important touchstone for a culture— after all, how many of us studied mythology not just of ancient Greece, but of Rome, China, Japan, India, and Indigenous Americans? These stories hold ideas that are important to a society and its functions!
So what does the myth of Bigfoot, and the embellished tales of American expansion, tell us about America?
I think the spirit of it is captured in a line said by one of the show runner characters near the end of the play: “Who more embodies the impossible bravado of defining America than TV writers?”
They compare the idealistic notion of pioneers gathering around the campfire to tell stories of everyone from Teddy Roosevelt to Paul Bunyan, Billy the Kid to Bigfoot themselves, to modern Americans gathering around the TV to watch the latest show. And in a way, the comparison seems to hold some truth. Because in the end, what is mythology truly about but the collective experience of a people? As one of the show-runner characters states: “Bigfoot isn’t any one person’s story. It’s the collective.” And if I know one thing about television, especially reality television, it’s way more fun to consume it together.
I personally view theater in a similar vein, which is why I think a play with this thesis works so dang well. Theater originated as ritual— we know that from multiple historical sources. It eventually transformed into mere entertainment, though I believe the liveness of it still holds, and always will hold, a sense of ritual inside of it. This play expertly plays to that notion without taking itself too seriously. And that’s the beauty of it too— in a country where we often, perhaps, take ourselves and our myths a little too seriously, it helps to examine ourselves in a slightly ridiculous world. Perhaps, even, a world where multiple Bigfoots roam the stage at once, slowly revealing themselves to be former presidents and first ladies, movie stars and reporters, and even, perhaps, TV writers.
This play is a reminder that stories are delightful when they indulge in the tantalizing realm of imagination, letting the audience see a little glimpse into the world that we, the writers, create from. It is so fun to see all the Bigfoot (Bigfeet??) be on stage throughout the show, slowly taking off their masks to comment on the TV show as it is being written, making discoveries along with the audience. As I said earlier, theater will always have a sense of ritual to it, but it is so exciting to see this paired with a sense of irreverence and plain old fun.
I think this show would be a great option for high school and college drama clubs to really sink their teeth into. As a teacher, I pictured how well doing this show would pair with a history teacher’s curriculum on American expansion, and got really excited about it! But what can I say, I’m a bit of a pedagogy nerd.
Here is my official recommendation on NPX:
A rousing tale exploring mythology, storytelling, and how those things collide and commentate on culture. This play takes the audience on a ride through the writer's imagination and process as they discover what our myths as Americans say about us and our society. I love how this play asks the reader/audience to examine what they've been taught about history, what they believe about it, and what that says about our country. Would be a great piece for high schools and colleges!
Have you read this piece, or want to read it? Tell me your thoughts in the comments below!
Here are three more plays I discovered this week:
CALL ME KING or, The Drag Play by Hannah C Langley
Unrivaled by Rosie Narasaki
Dirty Laundry by Mathilde Dratwa
Want me to read one of the above plays? Or maybe, read yours? Let me know by responding to this as an email or messaging me on SubStack!
Happy reading (and writing)!
~Brynn