Men on Boats Program

Men on Boats

By Jacklyn Backhaus

Directed by Beth Kattelman

Setting

On boats in 1869. Traversing the Green and Colorado Rivers from Wyoming to a Big Canyon on the government's first Sanctioned Expedition.

The performance runs 95 minutes with a 15-minute intermission.

Cast

John Wesley Powell
Eva Scherrer

William Dunn
Carlie Shearer

John Colton Sumner
Melissa N. Hobson

Old Shady
Renèe Jones

Bradley
Ava Petersen

O.G. Howard/Just Jim
Susan Kim

Seneca Howland/Johnson
Hailee Franklin

Frank Goodman/Mr. Asa
Madalyn Blackford

Hall
Newton A. Harvey

Hawkins
Jess Phalen

Playwrights Horizons, Inc. and Clubbed Thumb produced Men on Boats in New York City, 2016.

Initially developed and produced by Clubbed Thumb in 2015.

Men on Boats is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing, LLC, servicing the Dramatists Play Service collection (www.dramatists.com).

The use of any recording device, either audio or video, and the taking of photographs, either with or without flash, is strictly prohibited. Please silence your cell phones and pagers prior to the beginning of the performance. In consideration of those seated around you, please refrain from texting during the performance.

Sydney Athans (asst. stage manager), junior
Hometown: Cincinnati, OH
Major(s): English
Minor(s): theatre
Department Productions: 1st department production

Madalyn Blackford (Frank Goodman/Mr. Asa), junior
  Hometown: Melbourne, FL
  Major(s): air transportation
  Minor(s): Spanish
Department Productions: 1st department production

Hailee Franklin (Seneca Howland/Johnson), sophomore
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): music; theatre
Department Productions: Violet

Braden Graves (scenic and lighting designer), graduate student
Hometown: Prineville, OR
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: A Midsummer Night's Dream; Once Upon the Oval; The Seagull; Violet

Newton A. Harvey (Hall), senior
Hometown: Alice, TX
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Melissa N. Hobson (John Colton Sumner), sophomore
Hometown: Rochester, NY
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: debut

Catherine Huffman (costume designer), graduate student
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Sweat

Renèe Jones (Old Shady), junior
Hometown: Eastlake, OH
Major(s): Italian; theatre
Minor(s): musical theatre
Department Productions: debut

Susan Kim (O.G. Howland/Just Jim), junior
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): marketing
Department Productions: debut

Skylar Kyser (production stage manager), senior
Hometown: Toledo, OH
Major(s): African-American and African studies; theatre
Department Productions: In the Next Room

Ava Petersen (Bradley), senior
Hometown: Columbus, OH
Major(s): psychology; theatre
Minor(s): studio art
Department Productions: In the Next Room

Jess Phalen (Hawkins & warm-up captain), senior
Hometown: West Windsor, NJ
Major(s): psychology
Minor(s): criminal justice; theatre
Department Productions: In the Next Room

Eva Scherrer (John Wesley Powell), senior
Hometown: Indianapolis, IN
Major(s): history; political science
Minor(s): Spanish; theatre
Department Productions: Indecent; The Seagull

Carlie Shearer (William Dunn), senior
Hometown: Dayton, OH
Major(s): linguistics, theatre
Minor(s): Italian
Department Productions: debut

Jesse Tack (sound designer), senior
Hometown: St. Clair Shores, MI
Major(s): theatre
Department Productions: Red Velvet; The Seagull; Sweat

“We have an unknown distance yet to run, an unknown river to explore. What falls there are, we know not; what rocks beset the channel, we know not; what walls ride over the river, we know not…. their lithe but powerful forms seem to move around me; and the memory of the men and their heroic deeds, the men and their generous acts, overwhelms me with a joy that seems almost a grief.”-John Wesley Powell

From the first moment of this production, thoughtfully titled Men on Boats, an urgent question will arise: where are all the men? Great question. Playwright, Jaclyn Backhaus, is so glad you asked. Yes, this play is about a rag-tag group of adventuring men, but it is about so much more.

Backhaus first encountered John Wesley Powell and his 1869 expedition when she was a young kid in Arizona. She listened to stories that immortalized the histories of brave men beating the odds and encountering the vast unknown of a “final frontier”: the Colorado River and the Grand Canyon. As an adult, this epic tale became a reality for Backhaus when she stumbled upon Powell’s extensive, published journals and decided to transform the source material into a play.

Backhaus began her monumental undertaking of Men on Boats in 2013, but the staging of this story confronted her with deeper conflicts. While the play creates a world that celebrates the relationships, hardships, and triumphs of these explorers, it also suggests the distressing history of colonial oppression, displacement, and violence toward Indigenous nations. The ideals of “Manifest Destiny” represented the opportunity for men like Powell to rewrite the nation’s identity by naming lands that didn’t belong to them, regardless of those who were silenced and erased in the process. Just as she gives voice to the expedition history, Backhaus explores how subverting realistic elements in favor of imagination can remind us of who else’s story also lurks in the narrative.

In the script, Backhaus provides a very important casting note:

“The characters in Men on Boats were historically cisgender white males. The cast should be made up entirely of people who are not. I’m talking about racially diverse actors who are female identifying, trans-identifying, genderfluid, and/or non-genderconforming.”

By changing the embodiment of these characters, Men on Boats becomes a play about gender, identity, and power. It provides a space for actors and creators to reimagine this story.

Men on Boats is an endearingly irreverent, comedic adventure that pokes fun at the glory-seeking attitudes of these white men. Backhaus removes these men from their “historical pedestals” and presents them as real people who lived and breathed, swore, laughed, worried, joked, made mistakes, and wondered about their mortality. It maintains the joyous celebration of adventure and reminds us that we share a common humanity and that we are all searching for a place of belonging.

So welcome to Men on Boats. Thanks for taking this journey with us. We hope you enjoy the ride.

Visit https://menonboatsosu.weebly.com/ to explore our production and the history of Men on Boats.

The Country Wife
By William Wycherley
Directed by Tom Dugdale and E.J. Westlake

Thurber Theatre
November 9 - 17

Horner spreads the rumor that he’s impotent to gain other men’s trust and access to their wives, seducing the latter, and cuckolding the former. Pinchwife attempts to keep his much younger and inexperienced new wife away from the attention of London rakes such as Horner. Horner’s friend Harcourt falls in love with Pinchwife’s sister Alithea and seeks her hand in marriage even though she’s engaged Sparkish, a vain socialite.

First produced in 1675, this play spent nearly 200 years banned from stage and print because of its scandalous story and risqué language. Our production of William Wycherley’s Restoration comedy uses Netflix’s Bridgerton as an inspiration, mixing periods and blending styles to explore themes of love, fidelity, freedom, and power.

Wilderness
By Seth Bockley and Anne Hamburger
Directed by Mandy Fox

River Den
February 15 - 23

At an outdoor wilderness camp for troubled youth, six teenagers grapple with mental health, addiction, and gender and sexual identity. They laugh, cry, and rage against the world, finding friendship as they attempt to navigate their way to adulthood at a time when the society no longer offer a clear path. The trauma they experience leaves them with anxiety, sadness, and self-doubt.

This devastating docudrama by Seth Bockley (Gilgamesh and Enkidu; Tabletop Tragedies; Farewell Fables) and Anne Hamburger (A Dozen Dreams; Basetrack Live) explores the psychological trauma adolescents face today.

Everybody
By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins
Directed by Kevin McClatchy

River Den
March 1 - 9

In this allegory, Everybody seeks someone to accompany them through life’s journey in hopes of securing a positive outcome when judged by God at the end of their life. After being rejected by Friendship, Kinship, Stuff, Mind, Five Senses, and Understanding, Everybody turns to Love for support. In the end, only Love leads to salvation as together, hand-in-hand, they crawl into the grave.

2016 MacArthur Fellow Branden Jacobs-Jenkins (Appropriate; An Octoroon; Gloria) was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama for Everybody, a contemporary take on the 15th-Century morality play Everyman. To symbolize the randomness of death, five of the actors are assigned a role each performance through a lottery.

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Men on Boats Program

Men on Boats Program

Men on Boats

By Jacklyn Backhaus

Directed by Beth Kattelman

Setting

Cast

PRODUCTION TEAM

PRODUCTION CREW

STUDENT CAST & PRODUCTION TEAM BIOGRAPHIES

DRAMATURG'S NOTE

UPCOMING DEPARTMENT PRODUCTIONS

FINAL PRODUCTION IN THE ROY BOWEN THEATRE