VIDEO: MEN ON BOATS Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus Turns The Tables On Male Conquest

The historical characters in Jaclyn Backhaus inventive drama, MEN ON BOATS, about John Wesley Powell's 1869 exploration of what will eventually be known as the Grand Canyon, are all men.

But it will take non-traditional casting (and the very unlikely approval from the playwright) for a group of guys to partake in her drama's ten juicy roles, since they're scripted to be played by women.

As she explains in the video, at one point during the creative process she questioned why she was writing a play about a group of white male adventurers exploring and claiming land already occupied by this continent's natives for the sake of Manifest Destiny.

Her conclusion was, "I'm writing a play full of characters that I would never get to play myself."

She delves further into the notion of taking the idea of male conquest placing it into the hands of someone who usually doesn't have that right.

MEN ON BOATS, the critically-acclaimed comedy which premiered at Clubbed Thumb's 2015 Summerworks Festival, returns this summer in a co-production by Clubbed Thumb and Playwrights Horizons. Written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by American Theater Company Artistic Director Will Davis, MEN ON BOATS moves uptown to Playwrights Horizons' Peter Jay Sharp Theater (416 West 42nd Street) for a limited engagement now through Sunday, August 21.

Reprising their roles from the 2015 premiere at Clubbed Thumb's Summerworks are Hannah Cabell (The Father) as "OG," Danielle Davenport (An Octoroon) as "Hall," Danaya Esperanza(Our Lady of Kibeho) as "Seneca," Donnetta Lavinia Grays (O, Earth) as "Sumner,"Birgit Huppuch (Judy) as "Goodman," Layla Khoshnoudi (The Offending Gesture) as "Bradley,"Kelly McAndrew (Perfect Arrangement) as "Powell," andKristen Sieh (RoosevElvis) as "Dunn." Joining the cast are Jocelyn Bioh (An Octoroon) as "Hawkins" andElizabeth Kenny (Sick) as "Old Shady."

Ten explorers. Four boats. One Grand Canyon. MEN ON BOATS is the joyfully anachronistic retelling of the 1869 Powell expedition, when a one-armed captain and a crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River.

The production features scenic design by Arnulfo Maldonado, costume design by Ásta Bennie Hostetter, lighting design by Solomon Weisbard and sound design by Jane Shaw. The Production Stage Manager isErin Gioia Albrecht.

Single tickets are $50 and may be purchased online via www.TicketCentral.com andwww.Facebook.com, by phone at (212) 279-4200 (Noon-8PM daily) and in person at the Ticket Central Box Office, 416 West 42nd Street (between Ninth & Tenth Avenues).