Clubbed Thumb Navigates the Grand Canyon Rapids

I'd never thought to ask why Lake Powell is Lake Powell. As the play Men in Boats points out, getting a man-made lake named after you is one of the fringe benefits of leading a daring and dangerous canoe expedition through the Grand Canyon in the 19th Century. The show is farcically envisioned retelling of Powell's expedition, with an all-women cast playing the all-male crew of the historic expedition. Written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by Will Davis, the play relies upon an inventive staging and exuberant cast to mine the humor in the expedition's drama and frustration, and the cast members are all excellent. I found, especially toward the end of the play, that I wasn't just waiting for laughs, but actually caring about the expedition's fate and the survival of the crew members. In kind of soliloquy toward the end of the play, the audience is asked to think about the fate of the surviving crew members, now that they've finally found a way out of the Grand Canyon and survived the rapids and water falls of their adventure. They go their own ways, of course. Some our perhaps commemorated with lakes and mountain's named in their honor. The limited engagement is a collaboration between Playwrights Horizons and the Clubbed Thumb theater company. It's playing as a limited engagement at Playwrights Horizons West 42nd Street complex.