Aliens and lobster—those are just two parts of a new play set in Shag Harbour, N.S.
Area 33 is about a teenage girl trying to make sense of her place in the world, while working two jobs, one at the UFO museum, and one at her uncle’s lobster buying business.
Natalie Meisner grew up on the south shore and wrote the play to talk about the good and bad issues facing the fishing industry, but with plenty of laughs, she says.
“That is when we can grow together, I think, right after a big belly laugh. People can go, ‘Oh, wait, let’s look at where we meet. Where’s the Venn diagram for where we meet on any given issue?’” says Meisner.
Meisner is a professional playwright and poet who teaches creative writing at Mount Royal University.
Like Meisner, the main character of the play grew up in a small town. She sees a lot of larger-than-life issues going on all around her, and the setting reflects that.
At the Shag Harbour UFO museum, you can find plenty of information about the sighting on Oct. 4, 1967, and in an isolated town, the character has not really seen the outside world.
Meisner says it let her explore what people believe in.
“Who do we trust, and what do we think is happening in that big universe outside our door?”
The digital poster for the “Area 33” play at the Osprey theatre in Shelburne. (Osprey Arts Centre)
Meisner’s own family, like so many others in fishing towns, lost someone to the sea. She says her grandfather was on a long liner boat in 1967, the same year of the UFO sighting, when he disappeared off the coast of Lockeport.
The industry requires a lot of mental toughness, a kind of honour, she says, but so much sacrifice that comes with it, too.
The protagonist is wrestling with some of these things, as well, when she sees the challenges her uncle and the rest of the town face in the lobster industry.
South western Nova Scotia has also dealt with some illegal fishing as well, whether its elvers (baby eels) or overfishing.
“There have been some really frightening and terrifying things that have happened down here. And at the same time, there are also these other folks who are out there trying to both make a living and, you know, help one another.”
Meisner says she wanted to find a balance between different perspectives. But if she didn’t get it right, she welcomes any feedback from the community, as well, after the world premiere next week.
“That’s one of the beautiful things about theaters, that you can hop into that person’s head for a minute and go, ‘Whoa, she has a point,'” she says.
The main character’s uncle is also a kind of middle man, and she says a lot of people don’t consider his plight, either.
The third character comes into the community from somewhere else, often called a “Come From Away,” and there’s a lot of humour about how tourism tries to coexist with the fishing world.
“[The play] does look at some of the things that are very difficult for young people, like, how do they make their way in the world? Do they see a future ahead of them? But at the same time, I promise you, it’s going to be a laugh riot.
Area 33 runs next week from Wednesday, July 23, to Sunday, July 27, at the Osprey Arts Centre in Shelburne.
Eastern Front Theatre is also offering a bus trip tour, featuring a farmer’s market, the UFO museum, lunch at the District 33 Winery. It’s one day only and leaves from Alderney Landing in Halifax on July 26 and returns that night.
