Almost Maine...Almost Perfect

The Lyon College Theater department recently finished production of Almost, Maine, a collection of vignettes all centering around love and different forms of romantic relationships. The different stories all take place within the same ten minute time span all across a town of Almost, Maine. The play is written with flexible casting in mind and can be as small as 4 and 18 cast members. The Holloway Theater’s production had a cast of 9, and students worked to showcase the talents of each cast member, especially the 4 senior actors, Amanda Shelley, Bekah Garcia, Louis Bollinger, and Savanna Thomas. An interesting choice made was to alternate male and female casting for scene five. Both versions of scene five shared similar structure and dialogue. In scene five, two best friends recount horror stories of their dating life. This includes one of the characters being told, “I don’t like the way you smell.” On another date, one character describes breaking their dance partner’s nose and then having to take them to a hospital where their ex-partner picked them up afterward. As the scene progresses, there is a clear comedic tone. Towards the end of the scene one character falls and tells their friend that “I just fell in love with you.” This is an incredible mix of physical comedy and wordplay, and it was one of the most similar parts among the different renditions between casts. The difference in characterization between male and female casting highlighted many of the strengths of the show. The comedic timing was excellent, and the emotional beats were well executed. This could be said for every scene in the play. The comedic and emotional beats are most clear in scene five because of the flexibility of character between the male and female version. Overall Almost, Maine was an excellent and incredibly entertaining show to watch. We will be looking forward to the next Holloway Theater production coming this fall.