Almost, Maine is a tale full of love, longing, connection and isolation. It combines melancholic elements with a strong sense of hope. The story takes place on a winter night in the mythical town of Almost, Maine.
The set design was minimalistic yet evocative, allowing the audience’s imagination to fill in the blanks. This brought focus to the scenes performed. The lighting and sound design complimented the storytelling beautifully, creating an expensive yet intimate atmosphere. “For the northern lights you can’t really hear them when you see them in person but usually it is a mix of racking and patterning, a lot of it just felt like it fits the theme, it was perfect,” said Sound Effect Designer, Slater Tran.
With each scene set in a different location, the rotating set helped transport the audience to various parts of the fictional town. “Almost, Maine has been a show I have been wanting to do since I first came in contact with it I discovered the show through the Thespians competitions and festivals and have seen scenes and read the entire show and it was something I thought was a perfect fit for a high school. Getting to do this material here at University was an amazing experience. We have such a wealth of talent and being able to showcase a lot of people was my favorite part of the show” Said by Director Keith Traver.
In “They Fell”, two characters named Shelly and Deena find themselves in a unique situation. Without giving too much away, let’s just say gravity seems to have taken a break in this particular moment. The people casted for this specific roles did an amazing job portraying and making this scene magical. “It was interesting playing a character that was very blatantly closeted and somewhat unacceptable in the society. At the same time I am very honored to be able to portray a character that touched so many hearts,” said senior Chloe Christiansen.
Almost, Maine is a charming tapestry of love and longing, stitched together with whimsy and the raw edges of human emotions.
