Over 15 years ago, I hiked into the Grand Canyon with nine other women (one old friend and eight new friends), many of us in celebration of our upcoming 40th birthday. It was no three-month journey through an uncharted wilderness, but it was a challenging full day hike down to the bottom of the canyon, a couple of nights at the charming
Phantom Ranch, and a challenging full day hike up and out. Last night, seven of the ten of us reunited to experience Ten Thousand Things' wonderful production of
Men on Boats, a reimagining of the first government sanctioned expedition down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It's a story of adventure, of the camaraderie that comes with doing hard things together, of the complicated ideas of Manifest Destiny and unchecked masculinity upon which our country is founded. Ten Thousand Things has put their usual clear-eyed bare-bones
all-the-lights-on spin on this story, with a fantastic cast of ten female/non-binary/trans actors, told in a playful way with heart, humor, and physicality to represent all the various locations and situations on the journey. i.e., there are no cisgender men and no boats in
Men on Boats. Nothing against either, but this is an inventive way to tell the story. You, too, can experience this challenging and satisfying journey at
Hennepin United Methodist Church, Capri Theater, or 825 Arts through March 15.
In 1869, John Wesley Powell and nine other men set off on the Green River in Wyoming with four boats, eventually joining the Colorado River and passing through "the big canyon" (glad that name didn't stick). Three months later some of the men and some of the boats exited the canyon in Utah. This play tells the story of what happened in those three months, and introduces us to ten very different men who were there for different reasons. We see their triumphs (successfully navigating a difficult section of the river) and defeats (losing boats and supplies). There's a lot of tongue-in-cheek talk about naming things (that of course had long ago been named by the native peoples of the land), and the bravado attitude that not only did these men have the right to be there, they were doing something good for their country. But in the end, when they reached their destination and accomplished their goal of traversing the canyon, there was a sense of disappointment, at least in this telling of the story. Because as the saying goes, it truly is not about the destination, it's about the journey, and these men had one heck of a journey.*
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| going over the waterfall! (photo by Tom Wallace) |
A favorite actor with TTT and many other theaters in town, Joy Dolo tries her hand at directing with this show, and unsurprisingly has created a playful and wondrous world full of life and joy (pun intended). Along with movement coach Isabel Nelson, this epic story with a cast of ten (on the larger side for TTT) moves fluidly down the river, up the cliffs, and into the big canyon in such a way that you can almost see the landscapes. I think everyone in my group teared up during the scene when the group reached the big canyon and saw those indescribable multi-colored rock walls for the first time, remembering our own journey there, the awe on the actors' faces mirroring our own 15 years ago. The river scenes are dynamic, actors grouped in 2s, 3s, and 4s in an invisible boat navigating rocks, whirlpools, and waterfalls in a thrilling way. The only practical objects aiding them are one big faux rock, a charming faux campfire, a ladder, and a couple of sticks used as oars or guns (scenic design by Sarah Brandner). Everything else is accomplished through movement, expression, and the power of collective imagination.
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row, row, row your boat (Emjoy Gavino, George Keller,
and Maureen Sherman-Mendez photo by Tom Wallace) |
Everyone in this cast is a joy to watch, including many familiar faces and a few newcomers to the unique TTT model, who fit right in with the vets. George Keller plays one-armed excursion leader Powell, struggling with what it means to be a leader, a "man," if you can't do the things you're ordering others to do. Adelin Phelps is right-hand-man Sumner, obsessed with naming things, and not always agreeing with the leader. Maureen Sherman-Mendez believably plays an experienced frontiersman, Karen Wiese-Thompson is hilarious as always with few words as Powell's taciturn older brother, Anya Naylor embodies the innocence of a young soldier, Emjoy Gavino and Charli Fool Bear are a couple of tough brothers, Elise Langer puts on a charming accent as a wealthy Brit there for fun (until it's not), Ashawnti Sakina Ford is the capable mapmaker and navigator, and Jay Owen Eisenberg as the cook keeps the company fed with diminishing rations (and an occasional rattlesnake). Each of them creates a distinct character, and they all work and play well together, in various pairs or small groups or full company scenes, to create this tight-knit but not always agreeable group.
In his TTT debut, composer/musician Walken Schweigert creates a soundscape of the Wild West on fiddle, guitar, accordion, percussion, and various other instruments and noisemakers. There are some lovely plaintive tunes that make you feel like you're in a Ken Burns documentary, some funny songs about fish, and sound effects that punctuate the action of the play. The characters are dressed like men of the Wild West - sepia-toned trousers and shirts with vests, jackets, and hats, layers removed as the journey gets tougher and the crew more disheveled (costume design by Sarah Bahr).
I loved this play when I saw it at Theatre in the Round two years ago, and it's a perfect choice for the TTT model, with its bold character, relevant themes, and imagination required to recreate the Grand Canyon in a small space. This production is playful and funny, relatable and moving, and so very American. Like a little show called Hamilton, it reimagines American history by telling the story with people who make up our beautifully diverse American present, the people who were there all along, but often left out of history.
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| ten women on the rim of the Grand Canyon, about to set off on an adventure |
*Plot summary borrowed from my review of Theatre in the Round's 2024 production.
