Boys will be girls in 'Men on Boats'

Such as chart the Colorado River and explore the Grand Canyon.

That’s what John Wesley Powell did with a crew of burly guys.

Playwright Jaclyn Backhaus got to wondering — what if those guys were, say, women? What would be different?

Drawing on Powell’s published journals, Backhaus penned “Men on Boats,” which Something Something Theatre Company opens Friday, Oct. 12.

And those adventurous men? The playwright insists that they be played by anyone but cisgender white males.

In Something Something’s production, those macho men are all portrayed by women.

Why, you might ask.

The casting makes the play, according to the Chicago Tribune, “subversive, a deconstruction of macho adventuring.”

And it’s gotta be fun, too.

Jasmine Roth directs the cast, which consists of Hannah Taylor, Maryann Green, Erin Hepler, Kimberly Swanson, Katie Burke, Leah Blue, Odalys Catalan, Christine Peterson, Timi Post and Analiese Bloom.

Opening is 7:30 p.m. Oct. 12; regular performances are 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, and 2 p.m. Sundays through Oct. 28 at the Temple of Music and Art Cabaret Theatre, 330 S. Scott Ave. $25, with discounts available.