BY KAREN BOSSICK

As a child Jaclyn Backhaus wanted to see others like her in the roles of the explorers who fanned out westward across America.

So, when she became an established playwright, she wrote a comedic play that reimagined the 1869 expedition of the one-armed Capt. John Wesley Powell on the Colorado River, an expedition rife with starvation, interpersonal friction and the loss of boats to uncharted waters.

Backhaus swapped out the men for women, trans and gender non-conforming actors as she presented a fresh take on the story while exploring the themes of adventure, colonialism and masculinity with humor.

The play questions our mixed-up myths of masculinity and Manifest Destiny.

Backhaus will discuss her play, which “Variety” called “off-the-canyon-walls funny,” at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, April 9, at The Community Library in Ketchum. Her appearance is being held in partnership with the Sun Valley Playwright’s Residency.

You can reserve a seat at https://thecommunitylibrary.libcal.com/event/16406284. The program also will be livestreamed at https://vimeo.com/event/5811567 and recorded to watch later on the Library Archive.