Everyone Aboard! Embark on the Colorado River with the Cast and Crew of Men on Boats
By Annie Sears Everyone aboard! We snuck into the first rehearsal for Men on Boats —playing at The Strand from October 17—and got an early look at the cast and creative vision for this subversive and exciting adventure. Men on Boats follows one-armed, Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell and his team of nine explorers as they traverse the Green and Colorado Rivers, ultimately “discovering” the Grand Canyon. Historically, these expeditioners were white, cisgender [a person whose gender identity is the same as the gender assigned at birth] men. But when the story is mounted on A.C.T.’s Strand stage, the characters will be embodied by a racially diverse cast of female-identifying actors. The script toys with traditional gender conventions, and because the script also contemporizes language and offers opportunities for bold physicality, it does so through comedy. “You are embarking on bringing to life what I think is a masterful—do we say mistress-ful—play,” said Artistic Director P...