Growing Up Salty and Other Plays

Ian C. Nelson is assistant director of libraries at the University of
Saskatchewan, and président de la Troupe du Jour, Regina Summer Stage.

All but one of the four plays in this collection by Nova Scotia writer
Natalie D. Meisner are nicely realized.

The title play, The Family Wax Museum or Growing Up Salty, is an
insightful monologue punctuated by family scenes at the dinner table and
by intriguing questions, such as “can you die all alone, if you just
stop caring about things?” The Attic is a lesbian love story in which
time “goes by, I bring you wine, you tell me lies, I go home.” One
might quibble about a couple of internal inconsistencies, but this piece
has lively dialogue, a surprising plot, and a beautiful metaphorical
ending. The same cannot be said for The Greatest Show on Earth, which
throws together disparate themes and characters in a gimmicky
medicine-show format.

Frank Plummer, You Ain’t Dead is the only piece with a specifically
Nova Scotian setting. It is an intergenerational feminist play with
three very meaty parts.