The Naples Players christens its newly renovated Price Studio Theater on October 16 with “Almost, Maine.” Producing Artistic Director Bryce Alexander thinks it’s the perfect setting for the charming love story in which nine couples in the fictional town of Almost, Maine fall into – and out of – love under the northern lights on a cold, clear, starry night.
“I love the intimacy of the black box,” said Alexander. “I mean, everybody always loves the grand majesty of the bigger theaters, where you get to do the big Broadway standards. But there’s a real magic in being so close to the actors…. It puts you so close to the action. No one is any further than three rows deep from the actors, so it puts you in the [same] environment as the actors, so in that sense, it’s a really lovely theater experience in a very different way than the Broadway spectacle.”
The black box environment is especially conducive to this play’s outdoor setting.
“We’re excited about the technical elements we’re able to provide to sort of mimic the sense of the aurora borealis and this really romantic atmosphere of being in the snowy north,” said Alexander.
Featuring shrewd writing by playwright John Cariani, “Almost, Maine” puts Tina Cirakovic, Scott Davis, Nathan Eichhorn, Tom Gregus, Brian Muniz and Veronica Ostroski on display as they bring to life in the tradition of “Love Actually” and “Valentine’s Day” some of Americana’s most satisfying romantic clichés. By dint of the enthusiasm, excellent comedic timing and heartfelt authenticity they bring to their roles, audiences will fall in love with the 21 different characters who flit across the stage like shooting stars against the backdrop of a moonless icy night sky.
“It’s a feel-good story,” Alexander added. “It challenges us to think through what love means and the different kinds of love that different kinds of individuals may have for each other, while also really painting a wonderful community experience about what it means to be loved.”
“Almost, Maine” is on stage in the Price Studio Theatre October 16 through November 10.
MORE INFORMATION
Almost, Maine is so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist.
In the course of a single cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.
For example, there’s Gayle, a young lover who returns burlap sack after burlap sack of the love her boyfriend has given her because he hasn’t proposed to her even though they’ve passed the point in their relationship where that’s what people do. The look on her face when he hands her just a single small canvas bag in return is priceless, as is her patent embarrassment when she discovers the secret that resides inside.
While many of the vignettes in “Almost, Maine” end with hope for a future filled with love and commitment, there are a few that embrace the bleak landscape of love unrequited (“Sad and Glad” and “Story of Hope”) and the wasteland of love’s end. In the latter category is “Where It Went,” which turns Phil his wife, Marci, loose to express at the top of their lungs the anger, frustration and despair couples confront when love fades under the daily grind of work, childrearing and life’s daily tasks and they wait for the other shoe to drop, namely their relationship’s sad and painful end.
Keeping it real, “Almost, Maine” is lighthearted fare woefully short on character development and arc. But the stories are tenderhearted, the acting crisp and the storylines as funny as they are predictable. And given the destruction, disruption and depression we’ve experienced in the aftermath of Covid 19, Ian and now Helene, we’ve earned a fanciful distraction. And for anyone who remembers the awkwardness and uncertainty of our first true love, “Almost, Maine” also offers an air of nostalgia.
The Price Studio Theatre is at 701 5th Ave S., Naples 34102.
Individual tickets are $50-$55 and can be purchased online at https://naplesplayers.org/show/almost-maine/ or by calling the box office at 239-263-7990.