ALMOST, MAINE Set to Open at Hackmatack Next Week

Nine vignettes, nine couples and 18 very different characters, with just four actors to fill the roles. This is both the challenge and the beauty of the upcoming Hackmatack Playhouse version of Almost, Maine, a romantic comedy opening Wednesday, Aug. 17 in Berwick, Maine.

"This particular play is frequently done with a very large cast and different actors playing each scene but it's written to be performed by only four actors," said director Genevieve Aichele of Portsmouth, "I am thrilled at the opportunity to direct it with a four-person cast, as it was written."

First shown at the Portland Stage Co. in 2004, Almost Maine is made up of nine short stories written by John Cariani about love and loss. They take place in a remote, mythical town called Almost, Maine.

On a cold moonless night as the northern lights hover in the starry skies, the residents of this small mythical Maine town fall in and out of love in unexpected ways. Knees are bruised, hearts are broken. But The Bruises heal and the hearts mend - almost.

Although it was written be performed by just four people, it can be hard to find just four actors who can skillfully fill multiple roles. Hackmatack was lucky enough to find four actors who Aichele says are so versatile they are perfectly cast for each of the very different parts they play.

"All of the actors give this sweet authenticity to these characters that is what they need. We've fallen in love with the characters, just as we should," said Aichele, founding director of the NH Theater Project.

The challenge for the characters is to be realistic in the many different roles, but not to be stereotypes. It's easy to play a comic character through exaggerated stereotypes, but not through subtle realism.

"To work, the audience has to be able to clearly read these emotions without the characters over acting," she said.

The actors cast are Monique Foote of Dover, who has worked with Aichele over the years, but took time out to have a child; Adam LaFramboise of Kittery, who moved back to this area from Los Angeles and just began auditioning here; Jennifer Henry of Kittery, who directed last season's Unnecessary Farce at Hackmatack and performs and directs locally; and Josh Gluck, who is student in Boston, and performed this summer in Hackmatack's production of On the Town.

Aichele describes Almost, Maine as "the theatrical equivalent of haiku with uniquely wry, northern New England humor." She notes the show is sometimes produced with too much sentimentality but works better if it's approached "with a delicate touch."

It has been eight years since Aichele, who teaches public speaking and community leadership at UNH, directed a show at Hackmatack and she is relishing the camaraderie and challenge.

"It's summer stock where you don't get into the performance space until a couple of days before the show opens and it's fun to have a larger stage," she said. "I've been made to feel a part of the family even though I'm just there for one play."

The New York Times this series of two-character vignettes as a "whimsical approach to the joys and perils of romance" exploring "the sudden thunderclap of love and the scorched earth that sometimes follows."

Almost Maine will be shown Wednesdays through Saturdays, Aug. 17 to Sept. 3 with matinees on Thursdays Aug. 18, 25 and Sept. 1. For more information or tickets, call 207-698-1807.

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