John Cariani’s Almost, Maine is a thoroughly enjoyable, little series of romantic comedy moods that take place in a tiny place in the American Midwest. I’ve seen productions of it in a couple of drastically different spaces. Years ago, the Boulevard Theatre produced it on what might have been the smallest stage in town at the time. The coziness worked well with the coziness of the stories. Some time later, the Rep produced it for what is probably the largest studio theater space in town. There the big emptiness seem to echo other aspects of what is a very, very charming script.
A recent press release for the show
“is now the most produced play in North American high schools, recently displacing Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
Wow. And this from a show that only debuted a little less than ten years ago. Couldn’t have happened to a nicer play, really. The press release in question came from UW-Washington County in West Bend. The series of 9 short plays that take place in a small town serves as the university’s Spring play.
UW-Washington County’s production of Almost, Maine runs March 12 - 14 in the campus theatre. For more information, visit washington.uwc.edu.
