THE THEATER MIRROR, New England's LIVE Theater Guide
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note: entire contents copyright 2006 by Teri Wilkinson
Speakeasy’s current offering,
the Boston premiere of John Cariani's “Almost Maine”,
will probably become a favorite with small theatre’s
in New England. This series of short plays and
sketches has been characterized as employing “magic
realism”--and at least one visual pun--to support its
general theme of the unpredictability of love. While
magic realism is a useful literary term, what happens
in the two act look into the lives of ordinary people
in northernmost Maine is better described as
theatrically as American Absurd. While this form
shares its break with reality and existentialist
viewpoint with the European relative, it is
considerably more hopeful. As such, “Almost Maine” is
unlikely to find much acceptance in New York, but
across the Northern tier of the USA and in Canada
where winter is a fact of life and not just a
nuisance.
This production, directed
by Paul Daigneault, features an ensemble of four
talented actors, three familiar faces and one relative
newcomer. Actor/director Barlow Adamson will next be
seen at the Lyric in “Arms and the Man”. Kevin
Kalinsky is a physician in training with credits for
understudying at the Huntington. IRNE winner Maureen
Keiller was seen as a central character in “The Women”
last fall. Elaine Theodore was seen in “Company” for
Speakeasy” and in “Living Out” for the Lyric and has
done a great deal of improv. Each plays a variety of
small town types, subtley distinct and sharing a
solidarity with their unincorporated farming
community. A larger cast would certainly be possible
but might lessen the sense of a small community. It
might be helpful if the play was being done by less
experienced actors.
Audra Avery’s unit set
centers around a stylized frozen pond backed by
movable snow-covered pines, dominated a remarkable
star-filled sky. which changes along with Karen
Perlow's expert light plot to create scenes where the
dark is as important as the light. Seth Bodie's
layered costumes help create distinctive characters
united against the cold, seeking inner warmth. Dewey
Dellay's soundscape emphasizes the expanse of the
setting completing the sense of place that unites the
hopeful yet Absurd minidramas behind the comic moments
of “Almost Maine.”