MEN ON BOATS and ZORRO X2 Bring Explorers and Adventurers to The Virtual Stage at Cal Poly Pomona

The Cal Poly Pomona Department of Theatre and New Dance announces its first completely virtual Fall season of theatre with a production of Men On Boats written by Jaclyn Backhaus and directed by Nancy Keystone, available for on-demand viewing October 23 - 28, 2020; and Zorro X2 written by Bernardo Solano and directed by Linda Bisesti, available for on-demand viewing November 20 - 24, 2020. All tickets are free.

Men On Boats is the true(ish) history of an 1869 expedition, when one-armed captain John Wesley Powell and his crew of insane yet loyal volunteers set out to chart the course of the Colorado River. There were ten men on the journey, trekking almost 1000 miles of largely uncharted terrain.

"The play recounts that journey of the ten white men, but the major conceit of the play is that the cast is composed of a diverse cast of female actors," says director Nancy Keystone. "The translation of the stereotypical male adventure story, through female bodies and spirits, creates a fascinating double lens through which the play explores themes of masculinity, Manifest Destiny, racism, frontier. We've been having a great time discovering the characters and ideas; the play has a lot of sly humor, and a wild sense of fun."

The play is performed entirely on Zoom with actors isolated in their own homes - which sometimes means in different states and time zones. "One of the things I most admire about it is that it is written specifically to be performed in the theatre, asking for overtly theatrical solutions. And this is one of our biggest challenges in creating a production on the Zoom platform (which is not meant for theatre at all!)," says Keystone. "The actors and designers are doing a fantastic job bringing the story to life, and I'm grateful to be working with them!"

"Since March, when we shifted to online teaching, the department has pivoted in numerous ways, among them the way we produce theatre," says Bernardo Solano, Department of Theatre and New Dance Chair. "Although the reasons behind all this are sad and terrible, the resulting exploration, adaptation, willingness to try new things, and a shared commitment to telling the story is powerful and inspiring. We are part of a bold reimagining of theatre in the 21st century."

In November, Solano's Zorro X2 will have a live premiere and talkback on November 20, with the performance available for on demand viewing through November 24.

In Zorro X2, the classic tale of Zorro gets a 21st century update, complete with immigrant laborers, a sadistic chief of security, and an ineffective computer geek who's taken in by a homeless man who claims to be the original Zorro.

"The play really explores the possibility of what a hero is and what liberation means," says director Linda Bisesti, Head of Acting and Voice in the Department of Theatre and New Dance. "It asks, when it comes to heroism and violent actions and everything that goes with that, is there really a winner in the end?"

"I never dreamed that this play would ever be produced in a virtual format," says Solano, who is also the playwright for Zorro X2. "It's very exciting to see the innovations that are being explored to bring it to light."

"Zorro X2 has also given our students the unique opportunity to work with a live playwright during the rehearsal process," says Bisesti. "Being able to discuss a play with its writer is invaluable, and requires a new set of skills that are different than tackling something like, say, Shakespeare."

Bisesti says she is dedicating the production of Zorror X2 to the late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg. "If anyone modeled the kind of hero we need today, it was Ginsberg," says Bisesti. "Peaceful but defiant; relentless but full of love; and always focused on equality."

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