When TheatreMcLean’s Men on Boats closed production on Feb. 15, the set was deconstructed and costumes all packed away in typical theatre fashion. An announcement on May 5, however, kicked the cast and crew back into gear as they remade the costumes and got back into the rehearsal routine: nominations for the Cappies awards were out, and McLean High School received a whopping nine nominations.
These nominations include Julian Hassi for Rising Critic; Micah Chlan and Hayden Schweikert for Graduating Critic; Olivia Rosenfeld, Margaret Hughes and Katherine Hager for Props; Katherine Dailey for Stage Management; Aashna Kapur for Supporting Actor in a Male Role; the Men on Boats for Ensemble in a Play; and the entire show, Men on Boats, for Best Play, which is a nomination TheatreMcLean hasn’t received since its 2023 production of Claudio Quest, and includes performing a scene from the show at the Cappies Gala.
“I’m excited to get back into rehearsals,” said senior Lila Binder, who was nominated as a member of the ensemble. “It’s very exciting because I know we put so much effort into the show, and I’m very proud of everyone already. We worked very hard and I definitely feel like we deserve the recognition that we got.”
Men on Boats was a very unique show, with a cast of entirely non-male actors playing an all male cast of characters. The dialogue and blocking of the show were incredibly difficult, featuring fast-paced “rapids” scenes, which included lots of perfectly-timed dialogue and synchronized movements the actors had to make while on their boats.
“Before we worked on any rapids scene, we would all stand around in a circle,” Binder said. “We would say our lines, giving energy to whoever’s speaking and giving energy to whoever we were talking to when we’re speaking. And it took a lot of time to get those scenes perfect.”
One of the nominations Men on Boats received was for their props team, which collaborated to feature impressive props such as real food (including sausage, chicken, and rice), edible dead fish (fake fish stuffed with rice) and self-aged metal products.
“We had these containers that needed to look old and rusty,” said senior Katherine Hager, who was nominated as part of the props team. “Instead of just making them look rusty, I actually decided to rust them using the chemical reaction between vinegar, salt, and hydrogen peroxide.”
All of the technical aspects of the show, including props, required collaboration within the team and with the cast to create the most immersive possible experience for the audience.
“It was the first show that I’ve done tech for, but not acting for,” Hager said. ”I did struggle with missing the context for a lot of the props. So that made me have to collaborate a lot more with the actors. I usually am good with being very independent, but [Men on Boats] was actually much more of a collaborative effort for everyone.”
McLean also received multiple nominations for its Cappies Critics, who have worked hard throughout their time on the team reviewing other shows for the awards.
“Being a cappies critic has been one of my favorite aspects of doing theatre,” said senior Micah Chlan, who was nominated for the Graduating Critic award. “I get to travel to a bunch of high schools in the DMV area. We get to watch the shows, meet and discuss with other cappies members from all around, and write a review for each show.”
With how much work the critics do to review others, receiving a nomination themselves can come as a pleasant surprise.
“I was a little surprised that I got nominated, since I’ve focused a lot of my energy towards other aspects of theatre, but I am glad because I really feel good about my writing quality,” Chlan said. “I’ve been a cappies critic since my sophomore year, and each year I’ve improved my writing, getting published more and more throughout each year. I feel accomplished for having something to show for all of the growth.”
