When I was in middle school, my quiz bowl team went to the local history museum, where there was a highly promoted exhibit on Lewis and Clark. While recognizing the role played by Sacagawea and the enslaved man York, I still came away with the impression that explorers of the American West were out-of-this-world figures: firm in purpose, striking in nobility and undaunted in the face of adversity.
Last weekend, Western adventurers in Kenan Theatre Company’s production of “Men on Boats” by Jaclyn Backhaus gave a decidedly different impression: they spent some time striking manly poses and naming mountains after themselves, but more time running around in terror screaming “OH SHIT, OH MY GOD!” and “JESUS CHRIST, POWELL!”
Powell refers to John Wesley Powell, played by Ayla Rodriguez, whose 1869 expedition through the rivers of Utah and Arizona charted much of the Southwest and was the first recorded passage of white men through the Grand Canyon. “Men on Boats,” puts a number of twists on the traditional narrative surrounding Western explorers.
The expedition was an all-male affair in 1869, but the productions of the play since its premiere in 2015 — including the performance at Kenan — have usually featured no male actors. It proves an interesting comparison with PlayMakers Repertory Company’s production of Hamlet last winter, in which the lead role was played by a woman.
Everyone in “Men on Boats” is decked out in period costumes such as string ties and boots, but their stage presence feels rooted in modern experience.
The Howland brothers, played by Alivia Weum and Izzy Mitchell, are given the character of edgy goth girls and Powell’s occasional personal bickers with William Dunn (Erica Bass) end up looking like a recognizable toxic friend feud.
The cartographer Hall (Swetha Anand) colors maps with crayons, and the whiskey recovered from a capsized boat is actually Hi-C juice boxes, which the characters gulp down with hilarious enthusiasm.
