Almost, Maine gives its audience a delightful glance at the lives of nine couples, capturing love and loss in a lighthearted, heartwarming fashion.

With its opening night on Thursday, November 1st, 2012, St. Francis High School’s production of Almost, Maine was a date-night heartwarmer that appealed to all audiences. The acting was superb, the lighting was realistic, and the set made you feel as if you were actually in the bitter-cold town of Almost, Maine. The production truly was two thumbs up.

Although I have never personally done any acting, I do know that it is difficult for every actor in a production to realistically portray their characters. In Almost, Maine, this was no challenge. The acting was so real that I felt that I knew each character, and I could see their deepest thoughts and desires. The performances that stood out the most to me were Adam Whitt as Lendall and Sarah Roppe as Gayle, who were featured in the scene “Getting it Back.” I at times found myself believing that these characters were real people, and I was thoroughly concerned for their future. These performances in my opinion were the best, but all of the acting in Almost, Maine was believable and very well done.

Almost, Maine had a unique opportunity to experiment with different lighting and succeeded in doing so. The background of the play, the Northern Lights, was a colorful display that gave a sense of playfulness and wonder to the set. Twinkling stars in the night sky complemented the Northern Lights and added a whole new level of realness to the production. All in all, the lighting in this play was fantastically done.

Have you ever left a play feeling unimpressed by a set? This was certainly not the case in Almost, Maine. In the three scenes that I saw, the stories were being told in three completely different locations: outside, in a house, and in a restaurant. Amateurs could easily mess up in a variety of places, such as believability, changing the sets between scenes, or even leaving the perfect amount up to the audience’s imagination. Once again, Almost, Maine was a success in this area, as in every other element. For example, in “Sad and Glad,” the audience could tell that the scene was taking place in a restaurant, but did not show anything other than the table and chairs the characters were sitting at. My favorite part of that scene was the transparent screen that let the audience see Sandrine’s friends at the bar. This showed the audience that the venue extended further without actually showing us anything else but the bar. Almost, Maine excelled in stage-design and sets, and brought the play to life.

Despite the abundance of successes Almost, Maine had to offer, it did also have a few issues in my opinion. The first was that Glory’s microphone in “Her Heart” was cutting in and out as she bent down near her tent. This was not major, but it made it difficult to understand exactly what she was saying. A solution for this problem could be to do more microphone checks before the opening night, just to ensure that something like that doesn’t happen. Another problem for me was that the music that was sometimes playing while the characters were talking could at times be a bit distracting. Again, this was only a minor setback. To fix this issue, the sound crew could turn down the music a little bit. Even though Almost, Maine had a few minor issues, the play overall exceeded anything else I think I’ve ever seen.

Almost, Maine was a play that gave the warm, fuzzy feeling inside that we all so desperately need. I was touched by the stories of love, and was left begging for more as the final scene ended. Every aspect of this play was a success, from the acting, to the lighting, to the staging. I know that given the opportunity, I would see the entire play not once, but as many times as possible. I strongly would recommend this play to anyone and everyone.