1 - Almost Maine Critique

Theater 100 Drama Appreciation
January 25, 2010

Almost, Maine
It is a common occurrence in the northernmost parts of North
America to see the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, in the skies
after sundown. These beautiful celestial events have frequently been
associated with mythical events, ranging from the Dance of the
Spirits to A sign from God. In what must certainly be a case of art
imitating life, most residents of the fictional town Almost, Maine seem
desensitized to the presence of the Northern Lights, but they are not
desensitized to the presence of love and romance in their small town.
The theater space housing the Davidson Community Players
production of Almost, Maine is the upstairs stage at the Duke Energy
Theaters Charlotte, NC location. Entering the theater, attendees are
greeted by a dark room with comfortable, padded seats and a
proscenium stage. Balcony seats are offered small surfaces on which
to perch beverages. The fourth wall is marked simply by the edge of
the stage; there are no curtains to delineate the space. On stage,
there is a park bench, what appears to be snow, and the doorway to a
house. Other props are on stage but are covered so there are sure to
be surprises in store. The audience is relaxed and chattering as the
start time approaches.
Almost, Maine takes place on a cold winter Friday night, in the
unorganized territory known as Almost, Maine. Residents fall in love,
deal with heartbreak, and learn more about each other as the Northern
Lights cascade over the town. The characters are loosely woven
together in a series of scenes but each story is unique to itself and
independent of the others. From the young couple who struggles with
shyness and awkwardness to the empty nesters who have
discovered that there is no longer a basis to their relationship now that
the children are gone, Almost, Maine explores the paths that our
relationships take as we move through our lives.
Heather Love was a bright spot in the production, beginning with
her portrayal of Glory, a recent widow who was struggling with the
broken state of her marriage at the time of her husbands demise, as a
busy waitress checking on the status of a former couple, and as an
abused girlfriend who accidentally teaches her new neighbor how to
feel. Loves stage presence and performances are evocative of Alyson
Hannigan (of How I Met Your Mother and American Pie fame), an
adaptation that fits perfectly within the scope of the charming and silly
Almost, Maine. Loves portrayal of Glory exemplified that silliness
when she pulled out a tourism brochure, explaining that she believed it
was acceptable to camp out in Easts front yard because the brochure
said that all Mainers were open and hospitable and no one would mind,
and that all Mainers were lobstermen no matter the distance from the
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Almost, Maine
ocean. She further demonstrated that characteristic when she
professed her belief that the Northern Lights were really souls on their
way to heaven. Love then went on to charm the entire audience with
her heartbroken belief that she had caused her husbands death and
her absolute need to make things right with him as he made his way to
the afterlife via the Northern Lights.
Isaac Josephthal is the only actor in the play who remains
onstage for the entire performance, and the only one to portray a
singular role. His character, Pete, stays on or near the park bench the
entire duration of the play, and his wordless depictions of Petes
confusion and hope while waiting for Ginette to return are as
expressive as if hed delivered a soliloquy.
Christian Love and Scott Slusarick deserve mention of their
depiction of two friends who discover that the reason they have had
such bad luck dating women is because they have feelings for each
other. Christian Love portrayed the confusion, hurt, anger, and
surprise very convincingly, and both actors did a fine job of not hinting
at the comic ending to the scene.
The Almost, Maine set design, with props provided by Lisa Altieri,
is very simple and does not change a great deal from scene to scene
although props are added and removed for each scene to add to the
authenticity of the event taking place. The park bench remained in
place, along with the snow and the door to the house. A recliner made
an appearance, as did a pub table and an ironing board. The lighting
provided Ryan Maloney was also simple and the only deviation from
character highlighting was the flashing of the Northern Lights in the
outdoor scenes.
The direction of Almost, Maine took the form of a romantic
comedy, with the slight deviation being that it did not center around
one couple dealing with one set of problems but instead focuses on
nine couples during one night in one town. Melissa Ohlmann-Roberge
could have played several of the scenes in a more dramatic manner
but instead chose to insert comedic elements even into the scenes that
were clearly documenting the broken heart of a character. This
approach clearly worked as the audience was enchanted by each
couple and left the play with a feeling of overall happiness.
An approach that Ohlmann-Roberge took with Isaac Josephthals
character, Pete, was to keep him onstage for the entire performance
rather than bringing him out between scenes as some productions of
Almost, Maine have been known to do. This added a depth and
consistency to the links between the characters. Pete, visible to the
audience during the entire show, including intermission when a patron
broke the fourth wall, was a constant reminder that these characters
all shared a common location. Ohlmann-Roberge kept the character as
part of the background but also acting out his story throughout the
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Almost, Maine
entire performance, as in the background we saw Pete read his
astronomy book and shift naturally as he waited for Ginette to return to
him. It was a visual demonstration of one of the themes of the play,
which loosely translates as everything comes full circle as Ginette
does to the globe in her quest to be closer to Pete.
Almost, Maine is not a deep play, and it is not one that will likely
change the life of anyone who has seen it. It is full of stereotypes, the
kind that will make those from the northeastern United States cringe
with dismay. Fortunately, it is also heart-warming and funny, making it
possible to overlook the stereotypes about Mainers, and the
mispronunciations of standard Maine words by the southern actors.
The set is welcoming, and the direction light-hearted. Even when the
scene is a sad one depicting the end of a romance, there is at least one
comedic moment to break the tension and keep the overall mood. The
acting in the play was excellent for community theater and it is evident
that the actors were dedicated to staging an excellent production for
maximum audience enjoyment. Comedic timing was near perfect
and dramatic scenes were not over the top; the characters seemed
real. While Almost, Maine has its flaws, it is certainly good
entertainment for an evening and will leave the audience feeling warm
and fuzzy as they head out afterwards.

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Theater 100 Drama Appreciation

January 25, 2010

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