In the coming weeks, Stage West will be presenting a different type of play than audiences are used to. Usually their productions−whether comedy, drama, or musical−have a linear plot. However, “Almost Maine” is made up of nine totally unrelated vignettes, each with different characters.
The location is Almost, Maine−so called because it’s not organized enough to be called a town and yet not the wilderness, either. It’s more of a state of mind, as you come to find out as the play progresses.
It’s a perfect production for February since the theme of the play is Love in all its forms−lost love, found love, unexpected love, love almost thrown away (literally) and love “on the rocks,” as well as many others. There is also quite a bit of symbolism in the play, which can be open to different interpretations. For example, what does the aurora borealis symbolize? What about the shooting star or the boot falling from the sky?
One critic describes the play as a romantic comedy with a touch of magical realism. What is magical realism? It’s a “genre of art and literature that presents a realistic view of the world while incorporating magical elements, often blurring the lines between speculation and reality.” It’s not the “Lord of the Rings” type of fantasy. Rather, it’s along the lines of Gabriel García Marquez’s novel “One Hundred Years of Solitude” or even the popular adolescent novel “Holes.”
You can’t help but fall in love with some of the quirky characters. For example, there is Steve, played by John Hoch who has lost the ability to feel pain, even when the other character in the vignette, Marvalyn, whacks him in the head with an ironing board. Then there is Hope, portrayed by Deborah Louise Ortiz, who returns to Almost, Maine hoping to rekindle a love she abandoned years ago.
The dialogue and the play on words is clever, also. For example, Glory comes to Almost, Maine to watch the Aurora Borealis and meets a man named East. When she asks him if he’s a lobster fisherman like many of the people in Maine, he says, “I live 100 miles from the ocean. That would be a pretty long commute.” And Hope, the woman who returns to Almost to find her lost love, is appropriately named because she is hoping to rekindle the flame, while Danny, her former love gave up hope years ago.
There’s also some physical comedy when Chad and Randy, two young guys sitting outside drinking beer, each take turns falling down. When you see the vignette you’ll understand the significance of this. One wonders how much practice it took not to hurt themselves when they fall on the hard floor of the stage.
Almost the entire cast are new to me, only having seen a couple of them in previous plays, so it was interesting getting to see some talent I haven’t seen before.
One of these newcomers is Deborah Louise Ortiz. Deborah got her start in theatre in high school, then took a break for quite a few years. She took up acting again in her 30s, acting on Off-Off Broadway and in several films. One of her favorite roles was Doris, the lead in “The Owl and the Pussycat.”
“I liked it because the character is very “New York.” [Deborah happens to be a New Yorker.] Doris is outspoken and loud. She loves life and I like the way she interacts with the lead man in the play,” says Deborah.
“Theatre is my love because of the thrill of getting the energy from the audience. It fills my soul,” Deborah continues. Deborah is also a playwright and hopes to have her a one-woman show, which was very successful in New York, produced at Stage West.
Nick Dasilva, who plays Dave, is fairly new to the theatre, as he’s only been acting since 2023. “I find the act of bringing a character to life to be the most rewarding thing [about acting] because it allows me to shine a light on the human experience,” he states.
One of the facets of his role that Nick found challenging was the intensity of the scene. “It leaves a lot of opportunities to break character.”
That is, the actor stops maintaining the persona they are supposed to be portraying and behaves as their actual self. For example, the actor starts to laugh in the middle of a serious scene. To overcome this tendency, Nick practiced running the scene with his acting partner, “Gutz” DeBarge until he felt the tension dissipate.
Lillie Garrett portrays Ginette. Lillie started acting when she was in elementary school. She loves acting because, “it allows me to express myself and it’s a good way to develop life skills, such as public speaking.”
The most rewarding thing about being in this play was that it helped her overcome her stage fright.
One role on Lillie’s bucket list is the Witch in “Into the Woods” because “the character is so complex.”
Leonardo “Leo” Bujones plays two parts–Jimmy and Randy. He found that getting into the character of Randy was a challenge because Randy is angry and he’s not an angry person by nature, so at first he unintentionally held back. The most rewarding aspect was executing the serious moments of the scene.
For the part of Jimmy, the most rewarding aspect is “just hearing the audience laugh at each joke.”
As director, Angela Franklin deftly handles the logistics of producing a play with that large a number of actors and with such a variety of scenes that exhibit so many different moods. She has directed two other plays, both with children. One was the Stage West children’s theatre production of “Sponge Bob Square Pants.” The other was “Finding Nemo” with the students at the elementary school where she teaches music.
She finds a number of differences between directing children and directing adults. “This was easier than directing kids because with kids you have to give them a lot more direction. It’s nice to get feedback from the actors, too, because the kids don’t usually do that,” Angela remarks.
She admits there were some challenges, however. One was that, the play is made up of vignettes that don’t directly relate to each other, but they loosely do because they all take place in the same town.
“I had to challenge myself how to make it look with the set and costumes, that all these characters are from the same place.”
“It’s been a dream of mine to do this show in any capacity,” Angela continues. “Being able to direct it is amazing!”
Her enthusiasm comes through when you see the play and so does that of the cast. The hours of practice are evident in the almost flawless production of this unusual play.
“Almost Maine” premieres February 14th at 7:30 p.m. Other performances are as follows: February 15th and 21st at 7:30 p.m. All the other performances (February 16th, 22nd, 23rd, March 1st and 2nd) are matinees at 2 p.m.
You can purchase tickets online at www.stagewestplayhouse.org. or by calling the box office at (352) 683-5113.
