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The stage is nearly set for the first Northern Essex Community College Theater performance of the academic year, “Almost, Maine.”
The play by John Cariani tells the story of people experiencing the life-altering power of the human heart. In a series of playful and surreal vignettes, relationships end, begin or change beyond recognition as strangers become friends, friends become lovers and lovers turn into strangers. It’s all set to the backdrop of the aurora borealis in the fictional town of Almost, Maine.
“It’s so magical. There’s a surprise at the end of every vignette. By the second vignette, the audience is excitedly waiting for the twist,” says College Theater Professor and “Almost, Maine” Director Brianne Beatrice.
Beatrice knows the play well, first staging it in 2010 with friends for community theater in Marblehead and then reprieving it at Salem State University.
It stars seasoned NECC Theater actors Liberal Arts: Writing major Mirrorajah Metcalfe of Haverhill and Liberal Arts major Olivia Barberian of Candia, N.H., alongside local actress Adrianna Neefus and newcomer Kevin Munoz, a General Studies major from Methuen.
Beatrice says the actors have enjoyed exploring the play, which presents some challenges with dialogue that is meant to overlap and characters that change with each vignette. “We’re finding the rhythm. I think they thought coming in, ‘This is a cute little piece,’ and when they started looking at the script analysis, they said, ‘Whoa, this is deeper than I thought!’ It’s a romance and a dramedy. You’re laughing and then you’re choking back the tears.”
“Almost, Maine” will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Oct. 26,4 p.m., and Oct. 27 and 28 at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Oct. 29, 2 p.m., all in the Chester W. Hawrylciw Theater, on the top floor of the Spurk Classroom Building on the Haverhill Campus, 100 Elliott St. General admission tickets are $20, students and seniors are $10.