Love is a mystical thing, it comes and
goes and leaves a little bit of magic in its wake. This is especially
true in the fictitious
town of “Almost, Maine,” where on a Friday night at 9 p.m., nine
stories of love in all its stages take place.
The McNeese State University Theatre Bayou Players will present performances of the play in the Ralph Squires Recital Hall
at McNeese State University,.
Director of “Almost, Maine” Charles McNeely said the play’s setting of a town that is almost but not quite in Maine lends
itself to the mythical nature of love.
“In the mythical town of Almost, Maine,
nine couples get together on a Friday night. Each couple’s story deals
in some way
with the theme of love. Falling in love, discovering love, losing
love and anything in between. Maybe love is there but hasn’t
been professed yet, and this is the moment when the profession
takes place. It has the very real idea to it of people falling
in love, but it’s done really theatrically where each scene has
something mystical in it.”
“In one scene we have a girl who is
meeting her boyfriend who she has dated for 11 years without a proposal,
and she’s fed
up. She shows up with all of these bags which contain the love he
gave to her over the years, and asks him to give her back
the bags of love she had given to him. Each scene has something
like that, it’s very interesting and fun. It’s a comedy with
some serious undertones and hopefully at the end of the play when
you’ve seen all nine scenes you’ll understand the complexity
of love and the wonderful feeling that it can be whenever it’s in
your life,” McNeely said.
Only nine actors will portray the
play’s nine couples, with all of the actors taking double duty and
portraying multiple characters.
McNeese theatre student Hayley Smith
said that due to the production’s short rehearsal schedule, which began
before the semester
started, it has been a challenge to make sure audiences can
differentiate between the different characters she plays on stage.
“I’m playing three characters, in one scene I am meeting up for the first time with an ex-boyfriend of mine and we get closure
for the relationship because I’m getting married to another guy the next day. In another I play one-half of a couple that
does fall out of love, a married couple realizes they’ve lost what they once had,” Smith said.
The play, which will be shown one week after Valentine’s Day, will ultimately give audiences hope for their future romantic
lives said Smith.
“I think the show is hopeful, it shows that love comes to you in many totally unexpected ways. It could fall right in your
lap one day in the least expected moments and places. Love can change, it can grow with you, it can die and it can be born
again. Love is a very unpredictable thing, and that’s the number one theme of the play,” she said.