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TheatreMcLean is transforming its black box theater into the Grand Canyon for an immersive production of Men on Boats, a satirical retelling of John Wesley Powell’s 1869 expedition led by an all-female cast.

The play follows 10 explorers as they chart the Green and Colorado rivers for President Ulysses S. Grant. Powell, a one-armed Civil War veteran and friend of the president, leads the group through dangerous waters, shrinking supplies and mounting losses.

Although the historical expedition consisted entirely of men, the production casts primarily non-male performers in those roles. Senior Lila Binder, who plays Frank Goodman, said that choice gives actors who would have been excluded from such an expedition in 1869 an opportunity to tell its story.

Taking on a male character has required extensive physical and vocal work, Binder said, while also allowing the performers to explore roles they might not ordinarily play.

The production examines both the expedition’s accomplishments and its participants’ assumptions. As the explorers map the region and name landmarks, the play emphasizes that Native communities had already lived on and understood the land for centuries.

“The men were hailed as heroes, but they’re not exactly the heroes we thought of them to be,” director Phillip Reid said. He noted that their eagerness to attach their names to places gives the story a continuing relevance.

That commentary will unfold much closer to the audience than it would on TheatreMcLean’s usual auditorium stage. Reid wanted the winter production to be a compact, ensemble-driven show suited to the school’s black box theater.

Junior Lily Kales, who plays Powell, said the intimate space demands added precision because spectators can see every movement and moment of hesitation.

The unconventional venue has also given the technical crews room to experiment. Students constructed canyon walls from wood, chicken wire and papier-mâché, placing structures about two and a half feet deep along both sides of the room and extending rock walls 16 feet upward.

Junior Garrett Hodder, co-head of set, said about three students spent four eight-hour days over winter break working on the scenery, in addition to time in technical theater class. One of the most difficult elements was a cave built at the front of the black box for audience members to pass through as they enter.

Students also created three mobile “boats.” The vessels are benches on wheels with outer shells held by the performers, allowing the actors to maneuver through the theater as if they were navigating the rivers.

Kales said she hopes the production shows audiences that theater does not have to follow a single approach to casting and that performers can see themselves in many different kinds of roles.

TheatreMcLean will present Men on Boats from Feb. 13-15.