Graphic Art by Stella Nall
Montana Repertory Theatre Presents, in Partnership with UM School of Theatre & Dance
Can't Drink Salt Water, by Kendra Mylnechuk Potter
Performances
World Premiere: Saturday, February 14, 7:30 PM, doors at 7
Evenings: February 14, 18, 19, 20, 21, & 22 at 7:30 PM, doors at 7
Matinees: February 15, 21, & 22 at 2 PM, doors at 1:30
Location
Montana Theatre, University of Montana Campus, PARTV Building
Pick-What-You-Pay (Suggested $35)
Tickets are Pick-What-You-Pay, through the generous support of Northwestern Energy, with a suggested ticket price of $35. Free tickets are available to any self-Identifying Indigenous patrons. To secure a free ticket, email the box office at montanarepertorytheatre@gmail.com, or call (406)243-6809.
With transformative support from The Roy Cockrum Foundation, and in partnership with UM School of Theatre and Dance, Montana Repertory Theatre presents the world premiere of Kendra Mylnechuk Potter’s Can’t Drink Salt Water. The opening night of this gripping new play will take place Saturday, February 14, 2026 in the Montana Theatre on the UM Campus (PARTV Building), with eight additional performances following, through February 22.
Juxtaposing a mother’s relentless search for her missing daughter with the journey of a young woman newly arrived at Bethel House, an evangelical shelter for victims of sex trafficking, this timely story weaves together Native identity, maternal grief, contemporary religious faith, humor, and a call to action. The production showcases professional Indigenous talent from across the country, including cast members Allison Hicks, Jennifer Rader, Serenity Mariana, and Bradley Lewis, costumes by Asa Benally, lighting design by Emma Deane, sound design by Rory Stitt, and mask design and creation by Cannupa Hanska Luger. As a co-production, it showcases UM student actors, designers, and crew alongside the professionals. The cast includes students Shadie Wallette, who previously performed in the 2023 staged reading, and Octavio Jimenez, who has toured the state over the past year with State of Mind, a collaboration between The Rep and the University of Montana Co-Lab for Civic Imagination. UM Students in the crew include Ronnie Avansino as the Props Designer, Rae Scott as the Assistant Stage Manager, and Aaron Prati as the Assistant Lighting Designer. The playwright, Kendra Mylnechuk Potter, is a University of Montana alum, and is based in Missoula.
“I am humbled to have the opportunity to collaborate with so many artists in this meaningful way. And for the work to get to live on this particular stage where I first worked over 20 years ago as a student, my "home stage" as it were, is a straight up dream,” Potter said. “The caliber of work – soup to nuts – from designers through performers, is just such a treat for our town to get to share in, and getting to mingle seasoned professionals at the top of their craft while highlighting the talent here in town with that of our UM student artists is a joy that brings this experience additional heart. My sincere hope is that we are able to provide a theatrical experience that feels like a useful contribution to the issues we seek to address: Missing and Murdered Indigenous People, community care, ecosystems, and seeing what (and who) has been here all along.”
“The School of Theatre and Dance is proud to partner with Montana Repertory Theatre to tell this vital story. We are so grateful to the Native artists, The Roy Cockrum Foundation, and to all involved for sharing their artistry, talents and resources with our students and we look forward to welcoming audiences to the Montana Theatre to see Can’t Drink Salt Water,” said Bernadette Sweeney, Director of UM School of Theatre and Dance.
This project began in 2019 with the idea to commission an original work from an Indigenous artist, grounded in The Rep’s action-oriented Land Acknowledgement: “Montana Repertory Theatre acknowledges that we are in the aboriginal territories of the Salish and Kalispel people. We also acknowledge the privilege of gathering on this land to share stories. We pledge to always hold a place on our stages for the stories of this land and of its first peoples.” The original commission was supported by the Warren Miller Performing Arts Center in Big Sky, Montana, and this story was chosen by a nationwide team of Indigenous artists, including Lily Gladstone, DeLanna Studi, Madeline Sayet, and Andre Bouchard.
"The Warren Miller Performing Arts Center (WMPAC) is thrilled to see the next phase of Can't Drink Salt Water coming to life in Missoula this spring. Any chance we can get to help support new, adventurous work like the piece that Kendra Mylnechuk Potter has created, we're fully on board, especially when it comes to cultural realities that authentically embody lived experiences here in Montana," said John Zirkle, Executive Director / Artistic Director at WMPAC.
This production is supported by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation. Founded in 2014 by Roy Cockrum and Benita Hofstetter Koman with winnings from Mr. Cockrum’s Powerball lottery jackpot, the Foundation’s mission is to award grants to support world-class performing arts projects in not-for-profit professional theatres throughout America. Since 2014, 76 American theaters and performing arts organizations have received major grants from the Foundation. Inspiration for its mission derives from a Camus quote:“Without culture, and the relative freedom it implies, society, even when perfect, is but a jungle. This is why any authentic creation is a gift to the future.” ― Albert Camus, The Myth of Sisyphus and Other Essays.
This performance includes mature themes.
ALLISON HICKS (mother)
Allison Hicks is an enrolled citizen of the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation and is also Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma. She is honored to be performing in Can’t Drink Salt Water at Montana Repertory Theatre. She can be seen in the TV series Rutherford Falls (NBC/Peacock) and High Desert (Apple+TV). Her theater credits include The Mvskoke Project by Eri Nox, Devilfish by Vera Starbard, Return to Niobrara by Mary Kathryn Nagle, and Bingo Hall by Dillon Chitto. Other credits include Long Wharf Theatre, The Yale Indigenous Performing Arts Program, Native Voices in Los Angeles, and The John F. Kennedy Center.
NANCE WILLIAMSON (DINA)
Nance is so very grateful to be a part of this amazing new play at Montana Rep. Broadway credits include Broken Glass, Romeo and Juliet, Henry IV, Cyrano. Recent Off-Broadway credits are Off Peak, Pride and Prejudice, Midsummer Night’s Dream. Nance has had a 42 year career working in regional theater across the country and has been a company member at the Dallas Theater Center for 10 years, Hudson Valley Shakespeare for 25 seasons. TV/Film credits include The Hating Game, all the Law and Orders, Good Wife etc. This is the 76th play Nance has performed with her husband Kurt Rhoads.
KURT RHOADS (SIMON)
Kurt is excited to be making his Montana Rep debut. Other work in western theaters includes the world premieres of Book of Will at Denver Center, Fiction at Old Globe, Rocket Man at Arizona Theatre Co. Other work in this region: Mirandolina, San Jose Rep; Man for All Seasons, Arvada Center for the Arts, a season at Utah Shakespeare Festival. Can’t Drink Salt Water marks the 76th play with his wife, Nance Williamson. They met as Orlando and Rosalind in As You Like It at the Dallas Theater Center. This summer Kurt will play Lear at Hudson Valley Shakespeare.
BRADLEY LEWIS (RAVEN)
Bradley is thrilled to join this company! Hailing from the Acoma Pueblo, recent credits include: Picnic at Hanging Rock (Off-Broadway Original Cast), Distant Thunder (Off-Broadway Original Cast), Audrey: A New Musical (Off-Broadway Original Cast), The Picher Project (Off-Broadway Original Cast), Aida (Metropolitan Opera), Flying Bird’s Diary (Long Wharf Theatre), Pueblo Revolt at Santa Fe Playhouse (World Premiere Cast), Haunted (World Premiere Cast) at Company One Theater, Ajijaak on Turtle Island (National Tour). New play readings (NYC): Sneaky (Roundabout Theater), Into Your Hands (Public Theater). Screen: Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, Resurrection (IFC Films). Upcoming film: Meet Cute in Manhattan (Amazon). Dawa'eh! // Thank you! Bradleylewisactor.com
SERENITY MARIANA (JEN)
Serenity Mariana (she/her) is a member of the Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina, currently based in New York City. Education: BFA NYU Tisch (Experimental Theatre Wing) (Strasberg Institute). Credits: Indian Princesses (La Jolla Playhouse), Peter Pan (National Tour), Can’t Drink Salt Water (Workshop), and The Tempest (Classic Theatre of Maryland). Upcoming: Indian Princesses (Atlantic Theatre). She recently made her NYC playwriting debut with her production of Drained at The Producer’s Club. She is thrilled to be returning to such an important and poignant story. @serenitymariana
JENNIFER LYNN (VIC)
Jennifer Lynn is an enrolled member of the Mole Lake Band of Sokaogon Chippewa Community. She is a film and television actress based in Oklahoma and Los Angeles. Her screen credits include Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, FX/Hulu’s Reservation Dogs, the feature film Twisters, directed by Lee Isaac Chung, and the short film En Memoria, developed through the Sundance Institute’s Indigenous program and featured in the 2025 Sundance Film Festival Shorts Program. She has also appeared in independent films and regional productions across the Southwest. Jennifer is thrilled to return to the stage, bringing a screen-trained specificity and grounded realism to live performance.
SHADIE WALLETTE (STAR)
Shadie Wallette is a senior at the University of Montana, graduating with a BFA in Acting, and an enrolled member of the Northern Cheyenne tribe. They have previously worked with the Montana Rep before, in works such as the Say Gay Plays, where they played a two-spirit person named Moon, and the staged reading of Can't Drink Saltwater in 2023. They are grateful to be back working with the Rep and would like to thank their family, without whom none of this would be possible.
OCTAVIO JIMENEZ (JOEY)
Octavio Jimenez (he/him) is a Missoula based Chicano actor with training from the University of Montana. Octavio is passionate about advocacy through theatre and aims to help tell stories that help others tell their stories. Octavio can be found teaching improv, in the kitchen, or on the side of the river and he can't wait to see you in the audience.
EAN MILES KESSLER (DETECTIVE SEAN CHISHOLM)
Ean Miles Kessler is a playwright, storyteller, and theater educator based in Missoula, MT. As a playwright, his work has been workshopped with Chicago Dramatists, Naked Angels, and the Playwright’s Center, among other organizations. Off-Off Broadway Playwriting credits: Brotherly Love; King’s River; The Bcam; Beautiful Hands; Devil Lay Me Down. Ean’s plays Brotherly Love and Funny Valentine were both published by Vintage Books, and his play Frankie Moon’s Long Gone was a finalist for the 2020 Carlo Annoni Prize, a finalist for the 2021 Ashland New Play Festival, and a semi-finalist for Landing Theatre Company’s 2021 New American Voices Playwriting Festival. He runs Words & Silence Playwriting Workshop, an online playwriting workshop, and can be found teaching playwriting and storytelling with various organizations around Missoula. (Photo by kmr studios).
Sponsored by
The Roy Cockrum Foundation
This performance is made possible by a generous grant from The Roy Cockrum Foundation.