Written by: Jon McColgan

Is dinner and a movie your typical Saturday night mantra whentaking out your significant other? Sick and tired of ordering in and watching the damn game? Wallet a little light these days? There’s a prescription for your ailment right here on campus, playing all weekend in Koumantzelis.

APO’s newest production, Almost, Maine, is a wonderfully simple yet powerful display of love and emotion, and is the perfect experience for those dating, looking for love, married, and even the jaded.

The show revolves around the residents of a snowy, unorganized territory of Maine, which the residents both affectionately and grudgingly refer to as “Almost,” serving as a reflection of the fact the area has never been founded into a township. However, this is not a story wasted on geopolitics or minute state regulations, but rather on the heart and the stages we all struggle through in our search for companionship and romance.

The plot unfolds in a series of vignettes, each featuring a couple that going through a phase of love or relationship, ranging from the anticipation and promise of that first kiss to the despair of seeing the love of your life moving on with someone else. The different glimpses tear at your core and make you care for characters you see for only a few minutes at best.

From the outset we see a pair of amateur romantics on a park bench partially buried in glistening snow, and like the rookies that they are, they ponder about how close two people can ever be to one another and apprehensively declare their love.

From here, the audience is visited by rich characters that are distinct despite all coming from a small Maine community. One of the most intriguing of these is the pleasantly naïve, almost childishly innocent young traveler who seeks refuge in a gruff man’s yard, as she is actually a tortured soul devoted to a mission.

Another is Jimmy, the bar regular whose had everyone from his parents to his pet fish leave him for greener pastures, not to mention his love interest to a legendary park ranger (only in Maine right?) after his failed proposal. Even his attempt to tattoo the shame and guilt he experienced was a failure, but Jimmy, like so many of us, just isn’t seeing what’s right in front of his face.

My absolute favorite pair though would be Lendell and Gail, who personify love at its most real yet irrational level. These two try to reconcile the love they’ve given one another and you actually feel as if there’s eleven years worth of affection between the characters. You feel the power of their love and the pain of their strife. You pull for togetherness, for the optimistic ideal of a happy ending.

While I’m am not one prone to emotional experiences during theatrical or cinematic performances, this story was truly touching and was more than enough to justify watching the rest of the show, which was also excellent. I felt like I was watching true love and emotion while in the audience and it was stunning. Friendship and relationship boundaries are explored, issues of GBLTQ relationships touched, and there is certainly an infusion of comedy to keep the audience engaged and smiling.

The physical set is minimalist, meant to focus the attention of the audience to the drama and expressions of the actors on stage, but the large piles of snow and few pieces of furniture that are scurried on and off serve to remind the audience of where we are. It did need some polishing, as most sets do in the days before opening night, but I am confident that it will be as beautiful as the art delivered through perofmrance. The only element I wasn’t pleased with was the selection of music, with folk renditions of pop love favorites….not exactly my cup of tea, but this hiccup is overcome by the performance of the cast.

The acting from this ensemble cast is the strongest I’ve seen here at Bentley and it was apleasure to see men and women grounded in accountancy and economics so capable and talented theatrically. Every audience member, from old to young, experienced in love to true novice, will find meaning in this show, as it is a mirror of our own histories.

This is perhaps what made Almost, Maine such an experience for me: its realistic display of experiences that our friends, family and we personally have been through. We’ve all seen the vicious fights and arguing, the sappy doting and devotion, the cute hand-holding and ardent passion; we’ve all felt the joy of love and the pain of loss. This show speaks to the most human element of us all: our ability to love, and it does so quite successfully.

Almost, Maine is presented by APO and written by John Cariani. The production is directed by Ryan Hanscon and produced by Phoebe Johnson & Christine Malloy. The show is running from Thursday, April 15 through Saturday, April 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Koumantzelis Auditorium. Doors open at 7 p.m., with admission free with Bentley I.D., $5 for general public. The performance is funded by the Student Activity fee.

4.5/5 Falcons