Moab Theater Project and ephemeral collective present WHEN WE WERE BOATS, a new play written and directed by Sam Van Wetter. The play ran October 1-4, 2026 at Star Hall in Moab, UT.

In 1955, two surfers from Los Angeles set out to find waves unlike any they’d seen before. They arrived at Lee’s Ferry on the Colorado River carrying only a few things, forgoing most of the gear that river runners depend on. They wore life preservers over army surplus rubber shirts and carried everything they needed in military black bags they’d been told were waterproof. The following weeks took them on a journey never before attempted and never since replicated. When they crawled out of the water at Pearce’s Ferry three hundred miles downstream, they had secured their place in the pantheon of river legends.

When We Were Boats tells the story of friendship and adventure in the most celebrated of river passages. Bill Beer and John Daggett navigate wrinkles of time and space, swimming through the discomforts of their cheap adventure to find magic and meaning in this vaunted place.

Cast(in order of appearance)

• Bill Belknap & others – Shane Bartosh

• Buzz Belknap & others – Rachel Toups

• John Daggett – Malcolm Campbell-Taylor

• Bill Beer – Sean Roberts