В Мобе поставят спектакль о первом плавании через Гранд-Каньон

How do you put a 280-mile swim through the Grand Canyon onstage? Sam Van Wetter and a group of Moab actors and artists are answering that question as they prepare “When We Were Boats,” a new play based on Bill Beer and John Daggett’s 1955 journey down the Colorado River. “We are bringing the river to you, with all its contingent weather, wonder, and weirdness!” Van Wetter said. Presented by the Moab Theater Project and ephemeral collective, the play was written and directed by Van Wetter. Its Star Hall run is Oct. 1-4, with performances at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $15. A special “picnic theater” performance, presented with Moab Arts and the Red Rock Arts Festival, is scheduled for Sept. 27 at Rotary Park. Seating opens at 2:30 p.m., and the performance runs from 3 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 and include themed snacks and beverages from Confluence Catering. Beer and Daggett, former Stanford University roommates, entered the Colorado River at Lees Ferry in 1955, according to a Stanford Magazine account of the expedition. Over the next 26 days, they swam about 280 miles through the Grand Canyon, becoming the first known people to swim the full length of the canyon. They relied on improvised equipment, wearing inexpensive rubber shirts and wool long johns in roughly 50-degree water. Military-surplus rubber boxes designed to protect radio equipment kept their food and gear dry and doubled as flotation devices. About a week into the expedition, the pair climbed the Kaibab Trail to resupply and learned that park rangers had been searching for them after media reports claimed they had been killed. They then returned to the river and continued downstream. Beer later recounted the expedition in his memoir, “We Swam the Grand Canyon: The True Story of a Cheap Vacation That Got a Little Out of Hand,” which is the basis for Van Wetter’s play. Van Wetter said “When We Were Boats” begins on the final night of Beer and Daggett’s journey. On a beach a few miles upstream from the takeout, river runner Bill Belknap and his son, Buzz, encounter the swimmers, who tell the story of their expedition for the first time. Through that retelling, the play moves back to the beginning of the journey. Audiences follow Beer and Daggett as they test their equipment in a Los Angeles swimming pool, meet unexpected characters at Lees Ferry and swim through a canyon they had previously only imagined. “The play will not be nearly as wet or sandy as the real thing, but we’re doing our best to make it really damp and gritty,” Van Wetter said. The production uses theatrical illusion and what Van Wetter calls “buoyant special effects” to depict the pair swimming through the canyon. He said rehearsals have also presented practical challenges involving props and quick costume changes. Sean Roberts portrays Beer and Malcolm Campbell-Taylor plays Daggett. Shane Bartosh plays Bill Belknap and Rachel Toups plays Buzz, with both taking on additional roles. Van Wetter said the actors have drawn connections among the plot, its history and their own experiences while developing their roles. “The best surprise is always watching the actors perform, honing in on a character who is a hybrid of written role and the person playing them,” he said. “As we move from a strictly theoretical production to a more fully realized one, we are together discovering aspects of the story that I hadn’t considered before.” Van Wetter said he kept the play rooted in the historical record. “There were real people, and they were really there, and the story is fantastical enough that it needs no embellishment,” he said. The play does, however, rearrange the chronology, allowing Beer and Daggett to encounter figures from the river’s history. Van Wetter said the structure helps audiences see connections that may not otherwise be apparent. Although the river journey propels the play, Van Wetter said its core is Beer and Daggett’s friendship, their adventurous spirits and the way the Grand Canyon changes those who travel through it. “Our rehearsals have proven it’s a very funny play, and I think our audiences will be laughing with John and Bill as much as at them,” he said. Beyond entertaining audiences, Van Wetter said he hopes the production inspires people to tell old stories in new ways. “In a place like Moab, our community history is rich with unconventional heroes and ill-prepared visionaries,” he said. “Our play is an energetic, irreverent treatment of just one such legendary duo. What can we learn from the daring and danger-seeking people who came before us?” The production is seeking volunteers to paint sets, sew costumes, work on the stage crew and help with other tasks. Community build days will run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. Sept. 5 and 12 in the stage room at the Moab Arts and Recreation Center.