Nine stories — weaved by five actors portraying 18 characters — is the basis for Almost, Maine, a romantic-comedy opening in Coquitlam tomorrow (Tuesday).
Evergreen Cultural Centre is remounting the play put on last year by Pacific Theatre, of which actor Kaitlin Williams made her directorial début.
“It’s an anthology of love stories,” Williams said. “I liked it because it was funny and sweet and charming and every one so relatable.”
The 10-minute long vignettes focus on, for example, the first time you fall in love or run into an ex-lover. There’s also magic realism added like when an actor falls down to show he or she is falling in love. Or there’s the woman who carries around a broken heart in her bag to demonstrate her lost love.
“It’s a little quirky,” Williams said. “It’s not your average love play.”
Actors Peter Carlone, Kim Larson, Baraka Rahmani, Jalen Saip and Brandon Bate (replacing Giovanni Mocibob) are cast in the Coquitlam remount; their characters refer to Almost’s landmarks such as the mill, rink and pub.
Written by John Cariani, the 2004 play is set in the remote fictional town called Almost, Maine (the original production has 11 short scenes). It ran for a month Off-Broadway in 2006 and is now the most produced play in North American high schools, replacing A Midsummer Night’s Dream by William Shakespeare.
• Almost, Maine runs until May 12 at the Evergreen Cultural Centre (1205 Pinetree Way, Coquitlam). Tickets at $42/$32/$15 are available by calling the box office at 604-927-6555 or visiting evergreenculturalcentre.ca.
jcleugh@tricitynews.com
