Randolph’s production of ‘Almost, Maine’ lights up the stage
In John Cariani’s Almost, Maine, small, everyday moments turn magical under the northern lights.
“The townsfolk in this small, remote town find themselves unexpectedly falling in and out of love in ways that are funny and sweet, and also a little bit surreal and magical,” said director Ally Farzetta, who is also assistant director of Randolph’s MFA in theatre program.
“All of our scenes are happening at the same time in this town,” she added. “The idea is that they’re all happening right as the northern lights begin to show in the sky. There’s a magical moment in each scene, right when the lights appear.”
The 2004 play is set in the titular, fictional town, with vignettes taking place in various locations, from a restaurant to a park bench to the front porch of someone’s home.
“The script has a lot of charm,” said Tanner Cochran ’24, ’26 MFA, who stars in one of the vignettes. “Emotional magic is constantly happening, but it never feels forced or that it’s the magic that’s making people do what they’re doing. Every moment feels magical, but it also feels naturally woven together.”
To create the remote, rural town of Almost, Technical Director Heather Sinclair focused on capturing the isolation of northern Maine.
“It’s very flat and mostly farmland,” Farzetta said. “We don’t have any set pieces that are built onto the stage, as we have in previous productions. Heather has, because this is taking place when it’s very snowy and cold, painted the stage white. She’s also incorporated these pieces of fabric that are going to be hanging down from the rafters that will be lit. We wanted to have our own version of the northern lights onstage.”
The script also presented the opportunity for the cast of 12 student actors to embrace intimate storytelling and human connection.
“We like to give our students a variety of different genres they can experience in their time at Randolph, and the last few shows that we’ve done have been classical, with large casts,” Farzetta said. “In Almost, Maine, the stories are mostly two-person scenes. We thought it would be a good opportunity for students to really put that focus on the scene work, connecting with a scene partner and digging into the relationships.”
Almost, Maine opens at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 6, with more performances at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 7, and Saturday, Nov. 8, as well as 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 8, and Sunday, Nov. 9. Tickets range from $6 to $10.
