‘Almost’ connects with audience

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December 1, 2011 - 12:00 AM

Tales about love and relationships in all their forms are on full display starting tonight at Allen County Community College, as the school’s drama department presents “Almost, Maine.”
The play follows a series of otherwise unrelated events, except that each is occurring almost simultaneously on a cold winter’s night in a fictional town in northern Maine. And each examines burgeoning, waning or lost love — some coming at critical points of their respective relationships.
With limited special effects, the production hinges on the ensemble cast’s ability to bring each scene to life.
They do so beautifully, through eight scenes, neatly woven together.
— There’s the story of Glory, portrayed by Sarah Kies, who has trekked to Maine with the hopes of seeing the northern lights. Her reasons are highly personal, she explains to Dakota Yohe, the young repairman she meets while camping in his front yard. He senses true love; she may not.
— Then, there’s Jimmy (Archie Huskey), sipping on a beer at a local bar in his solitude, when he happens to catch a glimpse of his ex-girlfriend Sandrine (Grace Cameron). He quickly realizes that seeing her for the first time since their breakup is not going to be how he envisioned it.
— Meanwhile, Jessica Truitt has finished washing a load of clothes at a boarding house laundry room when she accidently whacks nearby Steve (Huskey) with an ironing board. Steve’s medical condition — congenital analgesia — prevented him from feeling pain, and as he explains, he must take steps to determine what actually hurts and what he needs to fear.
— Gayle and Lendall, Valeree Winslow and Whit Olson, are a couple whose future suddenly is in doubt after she decides to return all the love he has given her and asks for hers back in exchange. In this case, the love is stored in sacks.
— Anthony Ellis and Nathan Hill are Randy and Chad, long-time best friends bemoaning their ill-fated dates and attempts at finding comfort in relationships. Their story, too, takes a surprising turn.
— Sarah Steedly and Brandon Eckley, meanwhile, are a husband and wife whose night of ice skating hasn’t turned out the way either has expected. She was hoping the evening would rekindle their love of long ago. He wonders why she can no longer be honest about her true feelings.
— Another tale follows Hope (Amber Wiederholt) as she returns to Almost at the front door of her former boyfriend, who had proposed to her years earlier. She left town for college the next day without giving him an answer. She tells the man at the door (Jonathan Schmidt) about her regrets. Does she have an answer now?
— And then there’s Dave and Rhonda (Ellis and Shelby Cruz). Dave has developed feelings of affection for Rhonda, despite her gruff exterior. He has painted her a picture with the hopes of igniting a spark.

SOME OF the stories are light-hearted and funny, such as when Huskey uniquely explains in “This Hurts” how an ironing board and God must be opposites, to when Ellis and Hill suddenly cannot remain standing after they talk about their past girlfriends.
Others have a more serious tone. Huskey’s pained expressions are certain to strike a chord for anyone who has been dumped, while the awkward arguments between Eckley and Steedly sound all too real for some couples who can longer find that spark.
The key to the play’s success is the cast’s ability to connect with the audience: to understand that love is a many-splendored — and occasionally painful — thing.
Special praise is warranted for Mack Melvin and Kiley Grimes, whose own tale of love is served in snippets as the play’s prologue, interlude and epilogue. Melvin explains how physical proximity may not equal emotional closeness. Will he regret it?
“Almost, Maine,” penned by stage and television actor Jon Cariani, runs tonight through Saturday at the ACCC Theatre. The curtain rises at 7:30. Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students and are available at the door or in advance at Iola Pharmacy.

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