SILER CITY, N.C. — Residents of a fictional small town near the Canadian border explore love in unexpected and hilarious ways in “Almost, Maine,” a romantic comedy performing this week at Jordan-Matthews High School.
“Almost, Maine,” regularly one of the most produced plays in high schools nationwide, will be on stage Friday, December 9, and Saturday, December 10, at 7 p.m. The play by John Cariani is built around nine short scenes with surprise endings and was first produced Off-Broadway in 2006 before becoming a worldwide hit in regional and local theater.
“One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways,” is how the theatrical licensing agency describes the play. “Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend — almost — in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.”
This is the first full-length play produced at Jordan-Matthews in decades. Though the school is renowned for its annual musical — with many actors over the years being nominated for Triangle Rising Stars awards for their performances — that musical was the only full-scale dramatic production. Things changed this fall when theater classes resumed after a decades-long hiatus.
Sawyer Shafer, who initially came to Jordan-Matthews last spring to direct “Oklahoma!,” was appointed theater teacher last summer and has been offering classes this fall. “Almost, Maine” is a production of his Theater Arts 1 students. Not only are they performing on stage and backstage, but they are even directing some of the vignettes.
While Shafer directs most of the scenes, Mylie Cardman directs “Her Heart,” Andrey Ureña-Seceña directs “Sad and Glad,” Jeffery Davis Chay directs “Story of Hope” and Isabella Palacios directs “Seeing the Thing.”
"It is extremely exciting to be able to bring plays back to JM on a regular basis,” said Shafer. "I hope the community enjoys the oddities of ‘Almost, Maine’ enough that we can make plays a regular part of our theater programming and expand this opportunity to students outside of the theater class.”
JMArts President Rose Pate, who brought theater back from that long hiatus a little more than one decade ago by writing original works around existing music, is excited about plays returning to the stage — and what this particular show offers for everyone involved.
"Our Theatre Arts 1 students are using ‘Almost, Maine’ to study all aspects of bringing a play to the stage, from character development to sound and lights,” she said. “Its setting on one cold winter night, during the magic of the northern lights, makes this a perfect holiday play.”
Admission is $3 per person or $5 for two people and is being charged to help defray licensing fees required to perform the play. All tickets will be sold at the door.
Spanish translation, prepared and produced by students, will be provided through headsets available at the auditorium.
More information about JMArts, including a schedule of all upcoming arts events and information on membership, is available online at JMArts.org. A full cast list for “Almost, Maine” is available at JMArts.org/s/JMAAlmostMaineCastList.pdf
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”Almost, Maine,” a full-length romantic comedy structured around nine short scenes, performs on December 9 and 10 at Jordan-Matthews High School. (Title art features a portion of a watercolor by JM artist Chloe Dickerson)