Reviewed by Tony Annicone
84 year old Little Theatre of Fall River’s summer show at the Fire Barn is “Almost, Maine” by John Cariani. The show is a series of nine vignettes exploring love as well as the joys and perils of romance. Cariani employs elements of magical realism as he explores the mysteries of the human heart. Welcome to Almost, Maine, a town so far north that it’s almost in Canada. And it almost doesn’t exist because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it is known as Almost. On a Friday night in the middle of winter, residents of a small, mythical town in northern Maine are falling in and out of love at an alarming rate. Knees are getting bruised; hearts are getting broken; but the bruises heal and hearts almost mend in what can be described as a charming midwinter night’s dream. Director Bob Gillet assembles a topnotch 19 member cast to carry out these funny roles earning them a thunderous ovation at the close of the night.
Bob thinks up some clever bits and lots of physical comedy for his cast to perform in this well written script. Each of the nine segments contain two characters. Bob gives each member of his cast a chance to shine in their scenes. He gives them a lot of slapstick but they play the characters realistically. The title of the vignettes are the Prologue, “Her Heart”, “Sad and Glad”, “This Hurts”, “Getting It Back”, “They Fell”, “Where It Went”, “Story of Hope” and “Seeing the Thing.” Pete and Ginette are the only recurring characters in the show. They show they will go the distance to make their love last. The northern lights and the unit set are by Kenneth Raposa.
I don’t want to give away too much of the plot of each scene which will ruin it for the audience. There are some funny one liners in the show including My parents moved south to Vermont which is one of them. Some of the crazy shenanigans include the hitchhiker who camps out in the backyard of a stranger to mend a broken heart this one is an emotionally draining well done dramatic scene by Stefani and Nishan Lawton, sledding pals who are the patient sweetheart and the tomboy who fights him when they do a striptease that has to be seen to be believed played wonderfully by Jason Trenholm and Krista Watson and a woman, named Hope, who finally commits to her childhood love, getting a surprise in an emotion packed scene. Hope is excellently played by Linda Monchik while Roger Mello plays the childhood love in scene. Other predicaments include where a girl hits a man with an ironing board because he doesn’t feel pain, teaching him to feel for the first time in his life. Jessica Kent and Eric Oliveira do a great job as this young couple.
Tyler Rowe beautifully plays a nervous workman who runs into his ex-girlfriend, wonderfully played by Shauna Brosky and the tattoo on his arm that leads him to another girl. Rachel Campoli plays the waitress in this scene who gives the scene a surprising twist. Lee Bonia is a weary married man who goes skating with his wife played by Laura Bomback while waiting for the other shoe to drop. Michael McGill plays a seemingly clueless boyfriend while Kim Mitchell plays his girlfriend who finally realize that they love each other. One of the funniest scenes occurs at the start of Act 2 when two gal buddies who discover they are falling all over the place in love after their two boyfriends dump them. The two buddies are well played by Kelly Morrell and Lisa Beausoleil. The prologue and epilogue are one of the girl, Karen Valcourt who walks around the world to be with the man she loves played by Ron Caisse. So for a fun filled night to enjoy a new comedy, be sure to catch “Almost, Maine” at The Firebarn. The power of this cast wins them a standing ovation at the close of the night.
ALMOST, MAINE (14 to 24 June)
Little Theatre of Fall River, The Firebarn, 340 Prospect St, Fall River, MA
1(508)675-1852 or www.littletheatre.net
