Robin JaVonne Smith, 34-year-old Dorchester resident, will make her SpeakEasy Stage Company debut next month in the Boston-area premiere of “Men On Boats,” an adventure play written by Jacyln Backhaus and directed by Dawn M. Simmons.

Smith, who moved to Boston in 2006, has lived in Fields Corner with her wife for the past three years. “I love Boston a lot,” she said in an interview with the Reporter. “I moved here to do theater because I like the theater scene here. I’ve never had a desire to go to LA or New York. Boston works well for me and I’ve found some really great projects.”

Smith is a member of the Beau Jest Moving Theatre Company and Ryan Landry’s Gold Dust Orphans. She has worked with Theatre on Fire, the Actors’ Shakespeare Project, Fort Point Theatre Channel, and Bad Habit Productions. Her day job at the Harvard Business School fosters and supports her goals, allowing her the flexibility to pursue her theater career.

“What drew me to the production of “Men on Boats” is a combination of things,” Smith said. “The director is delightful and she takes on really quirky projects. She’s very interested in getting casts as diverse as possible.”

The play is about an actual expedition to chart the Colorado River in 1869. The cast comprises only female, trans, or non-gender-conforming actors to tell the story of the ten white men who conducted the survey of the river.

Smith will be portraying John Wesley Powell, a real-life one-armed explorer who, along with nine others, was first to explore the Grand Canyon. The play is based on Powell’s journals documenting the expedition.

“It’s an adventure play. It’s a lot of fun to be sort of swimming on boats exploring the Grand Canyon,” said Smith. “We have to put the audience there with their imaginations and we’re going to be able to create something magical with a really minimal set.”

“Men on Boats” will run from Sept. 8 through Oct. 7 in the Roberts Studio Theatre in the Stanford Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts, 527 Tremont Street in Boston’s South End. The performance schedule is Wednesdays and Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 4 and 8 p.m., and Sundays at 3 p.m. There will be an additional performance on Thurs., Oct. 5 at 2 p.m.

Tickets start at $25, with discounts for students, seniors, and those 25 and under. For tickets or more information, please call the box office at 617-933-8600 or go to speakeasystage.com.