Almost, Maine a success with audiences
"Almost, Maine, a small town in northern Maine that doesn't
quite exist...." Is the setting for this past weekend's Xavier Players show Almost, Maine. This show, written by John Cariani, consists of eight 15-minute segments interconnected
by the location of this unincorporated Maine village. As noted in the playbill, each story "takes place at nine o'clock
on a cold, clear, moonless, slightly surreal Friday night in the middle of the deepest part of a northern Maine winter."
The play opens with two young lovers, Pete and Ginette, sitting on a bench looking at the stars. Their short story serves as both the prologue and epilogue to the play, and also brackets the intermission. Cute as it is, the stories
in between are the ones that really pull on your heart strings.
My particular favorite was "This Hurts." In this segment, Steve, played by senior Ollie Birckhead, is a mildly mentally
disabled young man with a congenital insensitivity to pain. His older brother, Paul, mentioned but never seen, is teaching Steve what should hurt and what he should be
afraid of in order to prevent him from harm; Steve writes all of this down in two notebooks. Marvalyn, a young woman in an unhappy relationship living in the same apartment complex, is the first to point out to Steve that pain
is not always physical, but sometimes emotional. The tale of their charming friendship captured the show. Birckhead's performance, in particular, was authentic and heartwarming.
My only critique of the play was that all characters stayed on
stage during their entire half of the play (four skits), even when their scenes were not performing. While I cannot fault the abilities of all the Xavier Players to stay frozen at the end of their scenes, it gave the skit that was performing limited mobility, and made the stage feel slightly claustrophobic.
Overall, however, I loved Xavier's rendition of Almost, Maine. The play itself was delighting and funny and was enhanced by the excellent performance of the Xavier Players.
Get Top Stories Delivered Weekly
Recent The Xavier University Newswire News Articles
Discuss This Article
GET TOP STORIES DELIVERED WEEKLY
FOLLOW OUR NEWSPAPER
LATEST THE XAVIER UNIVERSITY NEWSWIRE
- Unknown Mortal Orchestra's II
- Bullet to the Head misses its target
- Casual Vacany leaves the reader feeling unfulfilled
- Songs in the Key of... "LOVE" : Players' new show to be annual event
- Respect yourself first
- The future of Xavier
- An inside look into an English professor's academic conferences and conventions
RECENT THE XAVIER UNIVERSITY NEWSWIRE CLASSIFIEDS
OUTSIDE THE LINES
- A Story To Sing About
- The Gap in Gum Care: Why Caring For Your Teeth’s F...
- Top Tips for Signature Scents and Better-Smelling Laundry
- A Dog Trainer’s Top Tips to Support Pets Through Life S...
- Clear the Air of Indoor Pollutants This Spring
- Stroke & Dementia in Black Men: Tips for Staying Healthy...
- Hispanics and African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye...
- African Americans at Higher Risk for Eye Disease
- Infinity Kings: Final Book In A Favorite Fantasy Series
- What You Need To Know About Keratoconus and the iLink...
FROM AROUND THE WEB
- Don’t Let Diabetes Shortchange Your Golden Years
- No Child is Forgotten By Marine Toys for Tots
- Sweeten Your Springtime Salads With Healthy Chilean Grapes
- Young Author Translates 4,000-Year-Old Text to Reveal...
- Keeping Cool and Energy-efficient Amid America’s “...
- Addressing Sarcopenia with a Healthy Diet
- Subway’s New Wraps Elevate Eating on the Go
- Family Teacher Conference Topics Beyond Academics
- Youth Take Down Tobacco
- BookTrib’s Bites: Four Reads to Kickoff Spring
COLLEGE PRESS RELEASES
- Shoff Promotions Comic Book & Sports Card Show
- Semiconductor Research Corp unveils 2024 Research Call, $13.8M Funding
- Charles River Associates Opens Second Scholarship Cycle, Expands to the UK
- BLUMHOUSE AND AMC THEATRES LAUNCH FIRST-EVER HALFWAY TO HALLOWEEN FILM FESTIVAL
- THE GEN Z IMPERATIVE: LISTEN TO FEELINGS AND GIVE GEN Z A VOICE