Prologue scene of Almost, Maine.

Tuesday Daily Vivian Zhou continues to support student theatre and attended CUP’s production of Almost, Maine. She ended up crying 5 times, which may or may not have been caught on camera. Read on to find out what made her tear up.

Almost, Maine is a play by John Cariani that is comprised of nine short plays that explore love and loss in a remote, mythical town called Almost, Maine. This play is not for the faint of the heart, so if you are someone who will cry at videos of marriage proposals and live vicariously through other people’s love lives, prepare yourself.

CUP’s production features a prologue, a five-scene first act, an interlogue, a three-scene second act, and an epilogue. The play was directed by Alexandra Haddad, and her previous CUP work includes Eurydice as an assistant director and as a director of Boy Meets Girl, a one-act play. Haddad writes, “This is nine stories told by eight actors about twenty people experiencing life on a Friday night at 9pm in a town that doesn’t quite exist. But they do. These people do. For the next hour or two, you make them come to life.” Haddad chooses to produce this play in the form of theatre in the round, which is a risky choice because it places a lot of pressure on the director to get all members of the audience included. However, this was executed well by Haddad and her use of space in the Lerner Black Box Theatre helped the audience feel a part of the nine stories. Scenes were held in all corners of the room, including elevated areas where actors were within an arm’s reach of audience members. That directorial choice, surprisingly, did not distract from the story and in fact enhanced it.

Overall, the production was heartbreaking and heartwarming all at once. Different aspects of love are depicted in many different situations throughout the production. The most memorable scene was the concluding scene to the first act: Gayle (Sophie Freedman, BC ‘20) walks into Lendall’s (Harris Solomon, CC ‘22) apartment to return all the love that he gave her in the form of large suitcases and bags. She asks for all the love she gave Lendall to be returned as well. He looks around, and pulls out a small package. She is astonished by the minimal amount that he returns, insisting that there was more. She is heartbroken, disoriented, and angry because he doesn’t seem to want to take any action for the future. Heart-strings were tugged when he reveals that the little package he had was actually was an engagement ring and he was planning on proposing this entire time. Another heart breaking scene was the story of Hope (Elli Furukawa, BC ‘19), returning to Almost, Maine after several years to apologize to Daniel (David Ehmcke, CC ‘20) but realizes that the man at the door doesn’t look familiar at all. She then goes on in a monologue about how she never thought Daniel would leave this little town, and reveals that she didn’t give Daniel an answer when he proposed to her years ago but wants to marry him now. The scene ends heartbreakingly with the man disclosing that he was Daniel, he looks different because she broke his heart, and that it was too late because he’s found his hope in someone else.

The only part of the production that was a little questionable was the choice to include interpretative dance at the end of each scene. In some scenes, the dances were minimal; in others, the dances were extensive. Some dances felt sudden and out of place, while others felt natural and a good conclusion to the scene.

The eight actors of the ensemble are: David Ehmcke (CC ‘20), Sophie Freedman (BC ‘20), Elli Furukawa (BC ‘19), Brianna Johnson (BC ‘21), Perry O’Parsons (BC ‘21), Harry Singh (CC ‘20), Harris Solomon (CC ‘22), and Mitchell Thomas (SEAS ‘22). The actors play 20 roles, which gives actors opportunities to work in different combinations instead of in a group ensemble. All of the actors were extremely well-casted, but certain scenes turned out better because there was more chemistry in the combination of actors. It should be mentioned that all scenes with Harris Solomon (CC ‘22) had extraordinary acting and great comedic timing. Solomon impressed audiences with his portrayal of Lendall, the guy who proposes to his girlfriend of 11 years. His skills were further shown in the comedic last scene before the epilogue, portraying a giddy boy-next-door confessing his love for his best friend. Solomon’s acting was professional-level, but his female counterparts in his scenes, Freedman and O’Parsons played their parts really well too. O’Parsons portrays just the right amount of oblivion, insecurity and awkwardness to balance out Solomon’s giddiness. Freedman was very well-casted and had great chemistry with Solomon and Singh in her other scene. Harry Singh’s portrayal of Wes was so memorable and so well-timed in his delivery of lines, his body position, and facial expressions. He brought the story to life by playing a repairman who finds a woman with a broken heart in his backyard, offering to fix her heart, quite literally and figuratively. Elli Furukawa’s scene with David Ehmcke was a heartbreaking scene in general, but their delivery and their chemistry truly exemplified the heartbreaking nature. Furukawa’s scene with Johnson not only was a big representation of the LGBTQ community, their friendship also seemed genuine and Johnson’s best work in the entire play was during this scene. Thomas cracked the audience up when he said that his tattoo was supposed to be of “villain” but he spelled it wrong and now it says “villian”.

Haddad took this touching love story and turned it into a student-theatre masterpiece that brought tears to audience’s eyes. Those who have seen her previous work can see the similarities in her directing choices and those who haven’t should look forward to her next piece of work. Unfortunately, there are no more shows for Almost, Maine, but all who were involved in this production should be closely followed. All in all, CUP continues to impress and make breakthrough advances in Columbia’s student theatre community.

Photo via Vivian