By Seoyeon Kim’26
The St. Mark’s Theater Department made a smashing comeback with Men on Boats, a play by Jacklyn Backhaus under the direction of Mr. Christopher Kent, the Director of the Theater Department.
Men on Boats is “the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition” that traversed the Green and Colorado Rivers from Wyoming to the Big Canyon—which is now called the Grand Canyon. The 1869 expedition was the government’s first sanctioned expedition led by John Wesley Powell. The play is based on John Wesley Powell’s journals, published as The Exploration of the Colorado River and Its Canyons.
The play included 13 characters grouped in different boats for the journey. Aboard the Emma Dean were Powell (played by Sophie Ledonio ‘23), the one-armed leader of the expedition, Dunn (Angelica Hiraldo ‘23), ahunter and trapper, and Sumner (Diane Kwon ‘24), a former soldier, and current explorer. Aboard the Maid of the Canyon were Hall (Seoyeon Kim ‘26)the mapmaker, and Hawkins (Yejee Hwang ‘25) the cook. Aboard the Kitty Clyde’s Sister were Bradley (Rebecca Garland ‘24) a lieutenant, and Old Shady (Fiona Tran ‘23)Powell’s older brother, a Civil War veteran. Aboard the No-Name were Goodman (Emily Ling ‘26) a British person , O.G. (Jimmy Liu ‘24) a printer and hunter andSeneca (Tony Li ‘23),O.G.’s quiet little brother. There were two desert settlers, Just Jim (Steven Yang ‘23) and Johnson (Seoyeon Kim ‘26), assumed to be the ghosts of the renowned Ashley and his shipmate, who died on the Colorado River in an attempt to reach the Big Canyon before the 1869 expedition. Last but not least, Mr. Asa (Lucas Jiang ‘26) marked the finale of the play with his rather peculiar, but grand speech on the 1869 expedition.
All ten explorers embarking on the expedition to the Big Canyon (i.e. Grand Canyon)
Dunn quarreling with Powell in the desire to become the leader of the expedition
The play was a bittersweet comedy, eliciting waves of laughter here and there, but tinged with a heavy-hearted parting of some characters along the journey and the implication of the death of those characters who abandoned the river. As Mr. Kent explained, Men on Boats is a play that particularly highlights the relationship between the characters, especially the explorers. It is wholly focused on the building of a tight bond among the explorers, especially those within the same boat. Together, they suffer loss, misery, doubts, dangerous rapids, and the hardest times of their life but also embrace their achievements and get totally tanked up! These moments strengthen their ties with each other. The cast’s splendid talent to sincerely and cleverly connect with the characters and portray these intense relationships is truly spectacular!
Johnson and Just Jim atop the ridge
The play featured truly creative stage props: the tire swings (i.e. the boats) and the rocky cliff that almost reached the mezzanine! Two to three tire swings were connected to form each boat, making a total of four boats: the Emma Dean, The Maid of the Canyon, the Kitty Clyde’s Sister, and the No-Name. The rocky cliff fantastically dramatized certain moments: the entrance of the mysterious, haughty self-titled Johnson and Just Jim and the exit of a strange man, Mr. Asa. Many including Anouk Shin ‘26 expressed their admiration for “the use of tires” and commended them as “creative.” Here goes our thunderous applause to Mr. Daniel Mertsch, the set construction supervisor, and the tech crew!
“I saw the world of this play with clarity and shared those visions with the cast and crew who helped bring them to life. I hope that tonight, we can share what we see. If we can, for a few moments, change your eyesight and what you can imagine,” Mr. Kent wrote in the Director’s Note.
I hope that all spectators were able to share Mr. Kent’s vision through the lens of the cast’s performance and the crew’s creations.