Men on Boats
Jaclyn Backhaus
In Jaclyn Backhaus’ irreverent and raucous Men On Boats, the cisgender white male explorers of U.S. Manifest Destiny are taken over (and taken apart!) by performers who embody ANYTHING OTHER than our country’s most historically dominant group of people. In the setting of the American West where anything can happen, ten underrepresented individuals re-imagine our country’s identity and erode the gender-binary canon to reveal a vast, majestic canyon of limitless possibility.
FROM THE DIRECTOR: “During the summer of 1869, 10 cisgender white men set out to chart the mystery of the American West. John Wesley Powell, the leader of the expedition, kept a thoroughly detailed journal over the course of the journey, describing the region as, “A desert to the agriculturist, a mine to the paleontologist, and a paradise to the artist.” Our production of Jaclyn Backhaus’, Men On Boats will honor the hindmost claim of this statement as we freely, and joyfully recalibrate our country’s history from those who dominate the mainstream narrative, to the perspective of those who so often do not see themselves represented. I invite you to take this journey with us, and I invite you to allow the journey to affect the way you arrive to our final destination. Oh! And two important things to note: there are no cis-white men in this ensemble and there are no “boats.”- Nina Slowinski ‘19
Men On Boats is presented by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Inc., New York.
Playwrights Horizons, Inc. and Clubbed Thumb produced Men On Boats in New York City, 2016 Initially developed and produced by Clubbed Thumb in 2015
Production Info
Directed by Nina Slowinski
Lighting Design: Lea Tanenbaum
Scenic Design: Romi Moors
Sound Design: Jessie Hamilton
Costume Design: Julia Guy
Hair Design: L. Esther Hibbs
Dramatrugy: Claire Fink
Stage Manager: Emily Hardy
Featuring: Sammy Bluth, Emily Cross, CJ Delfino, Anna Marie Fama, Basil Lilien, Marina Kalaw, Coco McNeill, Tatsuya Rivera, Zoe Strassell, Hanna Yurfest