Arts and Lifestyle — The St. Marker

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!

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.

By Hannah Cha ’25, Lori Cui ’25

The annual Fall Play is underway! Directed by Mr. Kent, who oversees the theater department at St. Mark’s, this year’s play is “Men On Boat,” written by Jaclyn Backhaus. This play follows the expedition of a crew with a captain and many loyal volunteers through the Colorado river. There are more detailed summaries online, so feel free to check them out before the opening night. Recently, writers of the St. Marker interviewed some of the cast and the tech crew to get a better feel of the play, no spoilers ahead!

This year’s tech crew has revealed that there is an exciting use of stage props that they are all very proud of and are very excited to present. The cast has also mentioned that it is the “most interesting and unique element” to look forward to. Even cooler, the play has tire swings hanging down from the ceiling of the black box. Since the play is about a journey down the river, the tires will be a mimicry of the boats that the cast will “travel” in. One of the tech crew also adds that there will be a “unique, attractive design for each of the boats that the cast travels on, so the audience should also look out for the details during the play.”

In addition to the fascinating “boats,” the play has many unique elements that the school has never seen before. For instance, chairs will be arranged in a special way for the audience to view on the opening night. As one of the cast members mentioned, “the seats are all around and [arranged] in a different style than before.” This new formation of seats might function as a difficulty for the cast, but there are no differing opinions on whether this alternation would give a whole new perspective to the play.

When we asked the cast for a reason why people should go watch the play, one cast member mentioned that the audience should look forward to “fun, laughs and a lot of emotion.” Everyone on the theatre team is extremely excited to perform their work and encourage people to come! The opening night of “Men On Boats” is on the 16th of November, and production week lasts until the 18th. Don’t forget to sign up for tickets and sign out on Orah when coming-and don’t miss out on the fascinating opportunity to watch some wonderful work the cast and tech crew have done. See you there!