review milt thomas

Riverside Theatre’s latest show on the Waxlax Stage is Almost, Maine. Wait, is Almost a town in Maine? Or is it an adverb with a misplaced comma? Well, actually, it is a fictional small Maine town where this romantic comedy takes place. Almost, Maine is a 2004 play written by John Cariani, that features nine ten-minute short plays/Saturday Night Live-style skits about the vagaries of love – either lost, found or “almost” one or the other. Together, they make up a thoroughly enjoyable show.

A troupe of four actors – two male, two female – play each of the characters in different combinations, not counting the segues between skits when two burly “Mainer” stagehands change the scenery. What makes this play unique, is that every scene takes place on the same cold winter night at precisely 8:50PM when the Northern Lights are at their peak.

In the first scene, a man and a woman are sitting on opposite ends of a park bench looking at the Lights. She keeps moving closer to him but he doesn’t seem to know how to react. When he does, he sabotages any possibility of a romance and she leaves. How can this possibly have a happy ending?

In the next scene, a hiker pitches her tent on a spot with a good view of the Lights, not realizing it is on a man’s property. He asks why she is there and she goes through a convoluted and hilarious explanation.

After that, a man sits alone in a bar when his ex-girlfriend shows up unexpectedly. He tries to rekindle their relationship with little success, but it works out for him an unexpected way.

The next scene takes place in an apartment house laundry room where two strangers – one an upset woman and the other a studious man writing in a notebook – are brought together when she accidently hits him with her ironing board.

Then, a woman storms up to her soon-to-be ex-boyfriend and expresses her discontent with him in a most unusual way.

Another play takes place after a married couple are ice skating. They argue and are about to break up until an object from above changes everything.

A woman takes a taxi over 100 miles to a house she hopes still belongs to the man she once loved and neglected to tell him so. A different man comes out of the house and she tells her story to him. But how different is he?

Two best buddies, not exactly the romantic types, talk about their recent breakups with women, but then one of them collapses onstage.

A man gives his best female ‘buddy’ a painting he created, but she can’t figure out what it is. He becomes frustrated with her because of a larger issue in their relationship that neither of them knows how to express.

The four professional actors who play these roles are Matt DaSilva, Rachael Scarr, Derek Emerson Powell and Lauren Weinberg, who are all excellent playing their multiple roles. You could easily believe there are more than four actors.

The stage is adorned with minimal props except for the starlit nighttime backdrop, always there to remind us that all these skits are occurring on a cold, winter night, with clever lighting to simulate the aurora borealis.

As always, the lighting, sound effects – everything technical – is carried out by Riverside’s support team with the usual perfection, and some surprises, like objects falling from above and various sound effects that are quite effective.

You will fall in love with Almost, Maine, which by the way, has become one of the most frequently produced plays in the country, with nearly 100 professional productions and more than 5,000 community, university and high school productions to date.

So don’t be one of the few people who “almost” saw this show when you can easily pick up tickets by calling (772) 231-6990 or visiting riversidetheatre.com. But don’t hesitate – Almost, Maine runs through April 12 with matinees and evening performances “almost” every day.