Upper School Fall Play Explores Life, Love, and Maine

Set in the fictional northern Maine town of Almost, the show explores falling in and out of love during a cold winter season. With touches of magical realism and sensitive insights into the human condition, Almost, Maine is one of the most frequently produced plays in North American high schools. 

For the Rivers production, directed by English faculty member Juliet Bailey P’23, the Black Box stage was transformed into a small-town snowscape by the clever use of a few items on the set: a bench, a screen door, wood panels suggesting rustic buildings, a cluster of evergreens. Behind the actors, the Northern Lights flickered and faded beyond distant mountains. The costumes, which suggested an L.L. Bean catalog come to life, completed the picture.

The script gives actors an opportunity to connect with and portray the range of emotions that surround love: tenderness, fear, anger, sorrow, joy, warmth. The playwright, John Cariani, has written that Almost, Maine is “about real people who are really, truly honestly trying to love each other…We don’t always know how to deal with it; we make mistakes, and sometimes it’s not perfect. But it’s still worth it.”

In one scene, an Almost resident, East, falls for Glory, a woman who has turned up to camp in his yard, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Northern Lights—and with it, the departing spirit of her recently deceased partner, who broke her heart. She carries that heart in a paper bag, and at the end of the scene, East, a repairman, promises to fix it. In another, a young man, Steve, who claims to be unable to feel pain is accidentally conked with an ironing board by Marvalyn, a fellow resident of his rooming house; then, as a spark grows between them, and he is conked again, he begins to experience pain, and perhaps the promise of love as well. In yet another, Gayle, who has been dating Lendall for 11 years without a proposal of marriage, attempts to give him back the love he gave her and demands he do the same. Large bags of “love” dot the stage, but Lendall’s love, it transpires, has been compressed into a small red pouch containing an engagement ring.

Cast members, some shouldering multiple roles, were (in order of appearance) Patrick Minogue ’28, Ulrika Karlsson ’27, Katherine Shaw ’26, Gavin Bollar ’27, Xavier Massarotti ’25, Esme Asaad ’26, Kyra Coggin ’26, Holly Minogue ’25, Teddy Foley ’25, Saniya O’Meally ’28, and Mika Mustafayev ’27. Char Kloman ’25 was stage manager. The tech crew consisted of Vivian Dykema ’26, Maya Kloman ’28, Elise Kravitz ’28, Zimon Li ’26, Sebastian Mertsch ’27, Mika Mustafayev ’27, and Braxton Seale ’27. Costumes and props were overseen by faculty member Cathy Favreau P’22, and the producer was faculty member Diane DeVore P’22. 

Blending realism and magic realism, Almost, Maine taps into the sometimes inexplicable depths of the human heart. The Rivers cast and crew were more than up to the task of bringing those depths to life. As Bailey wrote in her director’s note, “This cast has imbued these characters with joy, dignity, and vulnerability. They have dug deep to find places inside themselves that connect with all the feels in this play.”