Playwright Kendra Millnocheck Potter and director Megan Finn preview Missoula world premiere of Can't Drink Saltwater
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Summary
At a Missoula Public Library artist talk, playwright Kendra Millnocheck Potter and director Megan Finn discussed the development, Indigenous themes and community partnerships behind Can't Drink Saltwater, a Montana Repertory Theatre production addressing missing and murdered Indigenous people; cultural consultant Carissa Heavy Runner shared her advocacy and personal loss.
Missoula — Playwright Kendra Millnocheck Potter and director Megan Finn told a packed artist talk at the Missoula Public Library on Friday that Can't Drink Saltwater, which the Montana Repertory Theatre commissioned, is meant to center Indigenous voices and invite non‑Native audiences into a shared space for grief and action.
"I got I had a weird dream...a woman with gills who was wet," Potter said of the play's origin, describing a vision that compelled her to write a story about belonging, loss and return. Potter, who identified herself as Lummi Nation and as a Missoula resident, said the commission specifically asked for a work addressing missing and murdered Indigenous people (MMIP).
Director Megan Finn, artistic director of The Tank in New York City, described the production as a design‑forward, collaborative effort made possible by significant outside funding. "We got the funding," Potter said, crediting the Roy Cochran Foundation with support that allowed the company to realize a large scale production and ambitious design elements.
Organizers walked the audience through the play's development: early readings and a residency at the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, national casting for readings, and multiple revisions informed by dramaturgs and collaborators. Potter said the first draft emerged rapidly once she had the space to write and that the piece continued to change through rehearsal. "The play is telling you what it is," Finn said, describing the give‑and‑take between playwright, director, actors and designers.
Visual and costume design figured prominently in the conversation. Potter recounted enlisting a visual artist from Standing Rock to design a Raven character and the resulting collaboration between that artist, a costume designer and the theater's costume shop. Finn emphasized the scale of the technical challenge: the production includes 26 scenes, numerous scene changes and ambitious stagecraft handled in part by student technicians.
Carissa Heavy Runner, introduced as a cultural consultant for the production and founder of MICA Matters, described both her advocacy work and the personal loss that led her to the role. "I lost my daughter the March 2023," Heavy Runner said, and she described organizing awareness walks, speaking at powwows and working with local groups to press for thorough investigations and community support for MMIP families. Heavy Runner said she joined the production to ensure cultural accuracy and accountability and to help create a space where grief can be shared constructively.
The creators discussed the play's intent to avoid exploiting trauma while still prompting audiences to act. Potter said the production deliberately breaks the play to give audiences concrete information and tasks, asking, "What do you do if you find yourself in a situation where someone you love is lost?"
Audience members asked whether the production would tour; Potter said no definite touring plans existed yet and urged local support to help the show succeed. The event closed with organizers announcing a concurrent lobby art show of local Indigenous artists, an Indigenous art market on Sunday the fifteenth from noon to 5 p.m., and other related events.
Can't Drink Saltwater opens at the Montana Repertory Theatre this weekend; organizers encouraged community attendance to support the work and the conversation it seeks to sustain.
