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“Almost, Maine” Offers a Wintery Comedy to Cool Summer Nights
Jimmy (Greg Parmeter, center) tries to strike
up a conversation with his old flame,
Sandrine (Shanon Patek, left) when he is interrupted by the Moose
Paddy’s waitress
(Leah Arnold, right) in one of the scenes from Almost, Maine opening
July 12, at the Northern Fort Playhouse
Released July 1, 2008
(ABERDEEN, SD) The Northern Fort Playhouse at Historic Fort Sisseton State Park will open the second play of its third season of summer stock with the romantic comedy, “Almost, Maine,” by John Cariani on Sat, Jul. 12 at 7:30 p.m. This engaging comedy is set in the town of Almost, Maine, a small community just south of the Canadian border. In fact the northern town of Almost, as one local explains is "not an actual town because we never got around to getting organized.” Audiences spending time at Almost will find a charming and eccentric town that will remind them of Garrison Keillor’s Lake Wobegon or Cicely, Alaska from TV’s “Northern Exposure”.
“Almost is inspired by the town I grew up in, Presque Isle, Maine, which is some 500 miles north of Boston. . .very far inland, and very far north, where the sky is big, the winters are long, and there's lots of space. They call Montana Big Sky Country. Well. . .they haven't seen northern Maine,” says playwright John Cariani
The New York Times noted that “maybe it's because they're conserving their energy for the long winter, or because the many layers of clothing restrict their movement, but Mainers are probably the most congenitally easygoing, unfazeable people in the continental U.S. They don't rile easy.” The calm, unflappable exterior of these Mainers hide a deep romantic passion that starry wintry Friday nights will unleash.
A Friday night in the middle of winter in “Almost, Maine” can get pretty cold and snowy, but happy and not so happy romances seem as abundant as the stars twinkling in the deep blue sky. The brief episodes which make up the play are connected by time and place, with each occurring on a Friday night in the middle of winter in and around Almost, as well as their wistful charm, quirky humor and bracing sense of hopefulness.
The play is told in a series of comical scenes, in which couples meet, flirt, bicker or reunite. Most exchanges contain a kiss, and most conclude happily, or at least hopefully, along with a faint dusting of snowbound magical realism. In one scene, a woman claims to carry her heart in a bag since it froze and splintered into slate. She also believes that the Northern Lights are torches borne by the dead, and are "really the torches that the recently departed carry with them so they can find their way to heaven." Another couple squares off with a quantifiable inventory of love given and received, while yet another couple shows that falling in love can be painfully literal. And in another scene, a married couple finds they've lost their sense of fun, along with one pesky missing shoe.
The Fort’s summer company of actors, Leah Arnold, Aberdeen, Cory Niles, Gregory Parmeter, Lincoln, Neb., and Shanon Patek, Watertown, will play the entire town of people with distinct and different emotional states. David Whitaker, who directed “Plaza Suite” for the Fort’s inaugural season, will return from Chicago to stage this production. The Fort’s production will also feature Julian Fleisher's folksy original music from the off-Broadway production. “Almost, Maine” should prove to be a crowd pleaser and a wonderful way to “cool off” during our warm summer nights.
“Almost, Maine” will continue for three additional performances with two evening performances on Fri, Jul. 18 and Sat, Jul. 26, at 7:30 p.m., and one matinee on Sun, Jul. 20 at 2 p.m. All seats for these shows are $11. There will be two dinner theatre options available at the Sat, Jul. 12 and Jul. 26 performances. Rainbow Catering of Britton will once again be providing the meals.
The menu for the July 12 performance is sour cream Swiss steak, roasted garlic mashed potatoes and salad. The menu for the July 26 performance is Chicken Georgia, baked potato, and salad. There will also be veggies and dip as an appetizer and desert served both nights. The special price for the dinner theatre is $27, which includes dinner and the show.
Tickets are available at the Fort Sisseton Visitor’s Center. Seats for regular performances and the dinner theatre night and can be reserved by calling the Fort at 605-448-5474 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.
The Northern Fort Playhouse is partially supported by a grant from
the South Dakota Arts Council and the 2008 season sponsor is the
Northern Lights Inn of Britton, South Dakota www.northernlightsinn.net).
About Northern State University
Northern State University is a premier residential institution characterized by outstanding instruction, extraordinary community relations, and unparalleled extracurricular opportunities. In August of 2007 NSU was named by US News and World Report as one of the best undergraduate public institutions in the Midwest. For more information about NSU, visit our Web site at www.northern.edu.
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