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.
