PORT ANGELES — In a small, remote town near the U.S.-Canada border, we meet a familiar bunch: daters, lovers, people possibly rekindling lost love.
This is “Almost, Maine,” the drama opening tonight (Tuesday night) for a four-night engagement at the Port Angeles High School Performing Arts Center, 304 E. Park Ave., courtesy of the school’s Thespian Society.
The play takes place one wintry night in the town of Almost, where each of its eight short love stories has a mystical feel, said Tavin Dotson, the Port Angeles High sophomore who is the show’s stage manager.
Curtain time is 7 p.m. tonight through Friday, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m.
General admission is $7, or $6 for students and seniors, and free for children age 10 and younger.
“The cast is simply exquisite,” Tavin said, adding that the players, who range from sophomores to seniors, have made this story theirs.
Drama instructor Kelly Lovall directs a small ensemble, with the boys appearing and reappearing in multiple roles.
The performers are Ben Arnold, Jeffrey Mordecai-Smith, Jesse Calvert, Grace Sanwald, Tiara Delatorre, Kay Methner, Katie Bowes, Kristin Kirkman, Hope Winsor and Annie Robertson.
Through the work of lighting and sound technician Noah Merideth, production manager Mary Dawson and prop mistress Ashia Lawrence — also students — people will be transported, Tavin said.
“Almost, Maine” is different from the school’s other plays, which have been comedies and rather “out there,” he added.
This show, by contrast, is about a place not unlike Port Angeles.
“Almost, Maine” was written by John Cariani and premiered 11 years ago in Portland, Maine, where it broke box office records.
It has since played in some 2,500 theaters around the world.
“Almost’s” vignettes, titled “Her Heart,” “Sad & Glad,” “Getting It Back,” “Seeing the Thing,” “Story of Hope,” “Where It Went,” “They Fell” and “This Hurts,” are about falling in love, breaking up and revisiting old passions.
“Each story speaks directly to the heart,” said Tavin, “through raw emotion, both good and bad.”
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Features Editor Diane Urbani de la Paz can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5062, or at diane.urbani@peninsuladailynews.com.
