CBT’s ‘Men on Boats’ puts comedic, modern spin on 19th century expedition tale

MACY ROBERTS Staff Writer

What makes the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre’s performance of “Men on Boats” so enticing is how ironic the title of the play is. That is, despite what practically everyone would initially believe, there’s actually no men in the production.

Ten actresses play all male characters in “Men on Boats,” with some playing minor secondary characters in addition to their central characters. The main character, John Wesley Powell, is played by theatre student Jasmine Handy, whose amazing performance makes it seem as if the role was made for her.

I’ll admit that when I first heard about “Men on Boats” coming to the Clarence Brown Lab Theatre, I wasn’t that interested given that I don’t particularly enjoy men or boats. However, after reading the description of the play on the theatre’s website, my curiosity was piqued.

Although running approximately 100 minutes with no intermission, “Men on Boats” was consistently engaging and exciting to watch. The play is set in the 1800s and inspired by Civil War veteran John Wesley Powell’s actual travels across Western America as described in his travel log, but the journey is portrayed in a modern context.

For instance, characters frequently curse and use more modern slang, which sometimes feels a little overdone but maintains the play’s quippy feel. There’s also socio-political commentary on the reality behind American expansionism and colonialism, such as a comedic scene featuring a Ute tribe talking about how “stoked” they were that the American government allowed them to stay on their own native land.

In addition to humor, there’s moments of genuine conflict and tension that give the production more depth and provide the audience something to look forward to besides more jokes.

The use of various props – from a jug of whiskey to stuffed snakes – and an unchanging set featuring a long wooden pathway is simple yet effective for each scene. The changing visuals on the projector behind the actresses provides beauty to the production, as different scenic mountain ranges change to signal the adventurers making progress in their journey.

There’s multiple scenes depicting travels across the water via prop boats, which does begin to feel a little repetitive as the play continues on, especially when characters are calling out the same lines. Although, a handful of dramatic scenes where boats capsize and passengers are thrown overboard makes the redundancy worthwhile.

Additionally, a large portion of scenes feature all ten cast members, which was initially confusing and a little overwhelming to follow at first. However, each character quickly establishes their own unique personality and relevance to the production that makes them easy to distinguish from each other.

Furthermore, members of the cast feed off of each other so well and band together to create collectively touching and humorous moments throughout the 100-minute runtime.

All in all, “Men on Boats” pleasantly surprised me. Its modern take on a 19th century adventure made it easy for audiences to follow along, and moments of drama and humor added so much character to what I originally thought would be a rather dull historical tale.

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