From left: Rachel Griesinger, Tricia Mancuso Parks, Shimali De Silva, Kait Hickey, and Georgia Kate Cohen play sailors on a submarine in Maiden Voyage. This photograph and banner by Bronwen Sharp.
In spite of the progress that women have made over the years when it comes to achieving gender equality, Cayenne Douglass’s new play, Maiden Voyage, shows that women need to stop overcompensating and simply act authentically in their workplace. Directed by Alex Keegan, and coinciding with Women’s History Month, this drama takes one five fathoms deep into the ocean and a distaff Navy world.
Brenda Crawley (left) is Captain Ricky Martin, and Arianne Banda is Scooby in Cayenne Douglass’s Maiden Voyage, directed by Alex Keegan, at the Flea Theater. Photograph by Dianna Bush.
The conceit: Maiden Voyage is about the first all-female patrol aboard a U.S. submarine. All is smooth sailing until mechanics and an interpersonal relationship go wrong and Captain Ricky Martin (Brenda Crawley), intent on preserving her reputation, fails to report a life-threatening situation.
The Captain sets the no-nonsense tone to her mission from the get-go. Even after 18 patrols under her belt, she remarks to Supply Officer Twinkle Toes (Georgia Kate Cohen), a lot is at stake in this deployment:
Captain: Do you know how many bigwigs I had to go up against? How many cases I had to make? The things that were said to me, as arguments against—
Twinkle Toes: I thought the military was supportive of this patrol.
Captain: That’s the face their giving now, good publicity, but trust me, there’s a lot of ’em, that would love nothing more than to see us fail.
Cohen plays Twinkle Toes in Maiden Voyage. Photograph by Bronwen Sharp.
Still, it’s not all doom and gloom during this 2½-hour play. The audience gets to watch the sailors go through their quotidian routines, such as the baptism by fire for rookies called “hazing.” Scooby (Arianne Banda)) and Esmeralda (Shimali De Silva) go through this ritual, which supposedly tests the mettle of new recruits as they search for slugs in the submarine’s bilge.
If hazing sends the rookies on a fool’s errand, there are more pleasant diversions cooked up during their 70-day deployment. A case in point: a party on the day when the sailors are halfway through their voyage. A show-within-a-show, it starts off with Twinkle Toes’ karaoke version to the opening number of Cabaret, proceeds with Esmeralda’s hip-hop dancing, and wraps up with Dot.com’s (Natasha Hakata) magic tricks that elicit an admiring remark from Esmeralda: “Why are you doing this submarine life? That’s some regular David Blaine shit! You could be a millionaire!”
The lighter scenes offset darker moments, such as when Scooby (Arianne Banda) reluctantly reports to the Captain that she has been raped by Sledge. Instead of taking the disclosure seriously, however, the Captain tells Scooby that that is “not possible:”
Raped you? Scooby, I think you’re confused. There’s no military issue I don’t understand, no issue I haven’t tackled, but a woman raping another woman? It’s just not … it’s not possible.
What this vignette pointedly reveals is the changing consciousness toward rape today. While the Captain still holds the traditional definition of rape in her mind, Scooby doesn’t see it from a gendered perspective at all, but from the fact that she’s been violated by Sledge, a sailor with a history of being a female predator.
Banda as Scooby, and Natasha Hakata as Dot.com in Douglass’s Maiden Voyage.
Photograph by Bronwen Sharp.
There are strong individual performances in the seven-member acting ensemble. Brenda Crawley brings a tense physicality to her Captain; Kait Hickey’s Sledge looks permanently set to deck anyone who gets in her way; Arianne’s Scooby is arresting as the quiet junior officer; Rachel Griesinger portrays Executive Officer Ace with the right levelheadedness; Natasha Hakata exudes warmth as the young mom Dot.com; Shimali De Silva’s is gutsy as Esmeralda; and Georgia Kate Cohen is well-cast as the Goody Two-shoes Twinkle Toes.
The action plays out on Frank J. Oliva’s claustrophobic set, which suggests a submarine’s cramped interior, eerily lit in blue by John Salutz. The only props are narrow rectangular blocks, which are continually rearranged to serve the moment, and two mechanical control panels mounted opposite each other on marine-blue walls.
Maiden Voyage deals with serious subjects, such as rape, domestic violence, and suicide, with sensitivity and insight, yet it takes a fresh tack on the subject of achieving gender equality. Although the last moments are awkwardly staged, there’s so much cumulative momentum from the play’s earlier scenes that the playwright’s message is still powerfully delivered.
Originally scheduled to be staged at Boston’s Fresh Ink Theatre in May 2020, Maiden Voyage was cancelled because of the pandemic. Those theatergoers looking for shows with a feminine vibe and psychological depth should drop into the Flea Theatre before this show sets sail.
The production of Maiden Voyage plays through March 17 at The Flea Theater (20 Thomas Street). Evening performances are at 7 p.m. Tuesday through Sunday; matinees are at 2 p.m. Saturday and Sunday March 17. For tickets and more information, visit thefleatheater.org.
Playwright: Cayenne Douglass
Director: Alex Keegan
Sets: Frank J. Oliva
Lighting: John Salutz
Costumes: Stephanie Mae Fisher
Sound: Elliot Yokum
Projection: Taylor Edelle Stuart
