Men On Boats at Playwrights Horizons

by Jaclyn BackHaus

July 20, 2016 – August 14, 2016

Peter Jay Sharp Theater

Men On Boats was originally produced by Clubbed Thumb at the Wild Project in June 2015 as part of the theater’s annual Summerworks festival. Clubbed Thumb is the inaugural participant in Playwrights Horizons’ Resident Company program; this return engagement is an outgrowth of this strong partnership between them.

Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. Men On Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. This thrilling and widely acclaimed new play by Jaclyn Backhaus returns this summer for a limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons.

Cast

Jocelyn Bioh

Broadway: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. Off-Broadway: An Octoroon, Neighbors. Television: “The Characters,” “Louie.”
Hannah Cabell

Broadway: The Father, A Man for All Seasons. Off-Broadway: Men On Boats, Collapse, 3C, Pumpgirl. Television: “The Leftovers.”
Danielle Davenport

Off-Broadway: Men On Boats, An Octoroon, Neighbors. Film: The Sweetest Rejection. Television: “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt,” “Boardwalk Empire.”
Danaya Esperanza

Off-Broadway: Men On Boats, Our Lady of Kibeho, Washeteria.Television: “Elementary.”
Donnetta Lavinia Grays

Broadway: In the Next Room…, Well. Film: The Wrestler, The English Teacher. Television: “Crime,” “The Blacklist,” “Mercy.”
Birgit Huppuch

Off-Broadway: Not What Happened, Blood Play, Neighbors, Telephone. Television: “High Maintenance.”
Elizabeth Kenny

egional: Sick, Hamlet, This from Cloudland (Seattle)
Layla Khoshnoudi

Off-Broadway: The Sensuality Party, Dido of Idaho. Film: Long Nights Short Mornings.
Kelly McAndrew

Broadway: Cat on a Hot Tin Roof. Off-Broadway: Men On Boats.Television: “Orange Is the New Black,” “Gossip Girl,” “Superheroes.”
Kristen Sieh

West End: RoosevElvis. Off-Broadway: Iphigenia at Aulis, Fortress of Solitude, The World Is Round. Television: “Orange Is the New Black,” “Boardwalk Empire.”

Creative Crew

Director – Will Davis

Will Davis is a director focused on physically adventurous, new, and devised work. Recent projects include Men on Boats by Jaclyn Backhaus for Clubbed Thumb’s Summerworks, Orange Julius by Basil Kreimendahl, Mike Iveson’s Sorry Robot for PS122’s COIL Festival, and two productions of Colossal by Andrew Hinderaker for Mixed Blood Theater and the Olney Theatre Center, for which he won a Helen Hayes award for outstanding direction. Will has developed, directed, and performed his work with New York Theatre Workshop, Clubbed Thumb, the New Museum, the Olney Theatre Center, the Alliance Theatre, Brooklyn Arts Exchange (BAX), the Fusebox Festival, New Harmony Project, the Orchard Project, the Ground Floor Residency at Berkeley Rep, Performance Studies International at Stanford University, and the Kennedy Center. Will was a member of the 2014/15 Soho Rep. Writer/Director Lab and an NYTW 2050 Directing Fellow. Will is currently an artist in residence at BAX and he also dances with The Ballez, a Brooklyn-based queer ballet company. Will holds a BFA in Theatre Studies from DePaul University and an MFA in Directing from UT Austin.

Scenic Design: Arnulfo Maldonado

is a New York City-based set and costume designer. Playwrights Horizons: Iowa. Recent credits include: Hillary and Clinton (Philadelphia Theatre Company), Macbeth(Old Globe), As You Like It (Baltimore Center Stage), Evita (Olney), andJudy (Page 73). New York credits include: Baryshnikov Arts Center, BAM, Classic Stage Company, EST, HERE, Fisher Center for the Performing Arts, Soho Rep. Regional credits include: Anchorage Opera, Barrington Stage Company, Center Stage, Central City Opera, Cleveland Play House, Opera Theatre of St. Louis, Peak Performances, Perseverance Theatre, San Francisco Ballet, Studio, Arena, Two River Theater, Westport Country Playhouse. Arnulfo is a Clubbed Thumb Affiliated Artist, recipient of a Princess Grace Faberge Theater Award, and the Resident Scenic Designer at the National Playwrights Conference. MFA: NYU. http://www.arnulfomaldonado.com/
Costume Design: Åsta Bennie Hostetter

New York: Friend Art(Second Stage); The Way West (Labyrinth Theater Company); Smokefall(MCC); John (Signature); 10 out of 12, Generations (Soho Rep.); Here’s Hoover!,You Got Older (HERE); Men On Boats (Clubbed Thumb), The Essential Straight & Narrow (New Ohio). Regional: The Mystery of Love and Sex (Signature Theatre); 4000 Miles, After The Revolution (Baltimore Center Stage); Pinkolandia (Two River Theater); The Rake’s Progress(Curtis Institute). Member: minor theater, Target Margin Theater, The Mad Ones.
Lighting Design: Solomon Weisbard

Solomon is Brooklyn-based and Oregon-born. Upcoming: Duat with Will Davis at Soho Rep. Recent NYC credits: Daniel Alexander Jones’ An Integrator’s Manual (La Mama); This Is the Color… (BAC/Door 10); Christina Anderson’s Hollow Roots (The Public / Under the Radar); The Film Society (Keen/Theatre Row), Owl Answers/Sun (Fordham); Cherry Smoke (Working Theater); The Pavilion(Barrow Group). Numerous sound, light, and movement works with rising and established composers, choreographers and theater-makers, including four new pieces as associate set designer with Bill T. Jones. MFA: Yale. Member: USA 829. http://www.solweisbard.com/

Sound Design: Jane Shaw

Playwrights Horizons debut. New York:Ironbound (Women’s Project, Rattlestick); The Killer (Theater for a New Audience); Women Without Men (Mint), New York Theater Workshop, Pearl. Regional: Hartford Stage, Cleveland Play House, American Repertory Theater. Recognition: Drama Desk, Bessie, Connecticut Critics Circle, Henry, Meet the Composer grant, Theatre Communication Group’s Career Development Program, and nominations for two Lortels, Henry Hewes, and Elliot Norton awards. She was born in Kansas and lives in Brooklyn.
Production Stage Manager: Erin Gioia Albrecht

Playwrights Horizons: The Christians, Marjorie Prime. Broadway: Bullets Over Broadway, Matilda, Bronx Bombers, and Hands on a Hardbody. Off-Broadway: Red Speedo (NYTW); Abundance (TACT); Punk Rock, The Village Bike, The Third Story (MCC Theater); Venice (The Public); Bronx Bombers (Primary Stages). Regional: multiple productions at The Old Globe and La Jolla Playhouse, most recently John Leguizamo’s Latin History for Morons. MFA, UC San Diego.