Almost, Maine is a heartwarming play is set in a beautiful frozen tundra of northern Maine, complete with snowmobiles, ice skating on frozen lakes, franks and beans at the Moose Paddy, and a tiny town where everybody knows everybody. It is a story of tragedy and redemption, and is about the chances at happiness that we must grab onto, before they pass us by.
VIVA Theater/Society for Creative Aging will present Almost, Maine this May. We felt the play was perfect for our intergenerational group, because the search for love is an everlasting state.
VIVA’s production of Almost, Maine boasts a cast ranging in age from late 20s to early 90s. We are also including the controversial vignette, They Fell, about two women in their 40s, looking for love in all the wrong places, only to realize that they’ve loved each other all along. This vignette has been banned in several states, and playwright John Cariani has intervened on its behalf. We believe that love does not discriminate, and chose to leave this vignette as part of our production.
The other vignettes are equally moving, including a woman who is physically giving back all the love she gave – in the form of giant trash bags. There is a woman who quite literally holds onto her heart too closely, because it is broken. Another couple recreates their first date, only to find their love has faded. One woman travels hundreds of miles to find the love she left behind, and a shy, woodsy snowmobiler finally gets the guts to reveal his true feelings.
Almost, Maine is about that sudden, unavoidable realization of love, and the pain that sometimes follows. It’s love of epic proportions – the kind of love that we all strive to have, even if just for a while.
VIVA Theater presents Almost, Maine by John Cariani at Boulder Public Library’s Canyon Theatre, Canyon & 11th, on May 12th & 13th at 1:30pm. For more information, contact Katie Jones at kathryn.ann.jones@gmail.com or visit http://s4creativeaging.org/
Tickets are $15 or $12 for students and seniors. For tickets, please visit: www.almostmaineviva.bpt.me/.