Expectations of the Vanguard Theatre’s production of “Almost, Maine” were blown out of the water.
While I expected the play to be wonderful, the actors played the parts of their characters exceptionally well. I did not see the actors playing the characters; rather, I saw the characters for who they truly were supposed to be. This is something the entire cast should be proud of because many times I can see the actor rather than the character. That in itself is annoying when trying to enjoy a production.
My favorite character of the night was most definitely Chad. This was surprising to me due to the nature of the character. However, John Nicholson, the actor playing Chad, did a wonderful job. There was so much emotion to the character, and Nicholson did an outstanding job at portraying that emotion.
Another thing I really enjoyed about the production was the fact there was no intermission. The play lasted an hour and a half and did not require a break. This really helped keep the scenes tied together. With each scene being completely different than the one preceding or following, I feel the lack of intermission helped keep them all together.
In my opinion, each scene offered the audience a different life lesson to be learned. One of the main things I took away from the play was during the last scene. During this scene, there was a girl and guy. The guy was obviously interested in the oblivious girl. He gave her a painting that turned out to be a picture of a heart showing his love for her, but she could only see the large blocks of color. From this, I took away that sometimes, one must step back and view a situation from a different perspective. Also, it is not the small things that are important; the small things really make up the big picture which, in the end, is what life is about.
Another major life lesson offered to the audience was to not assume the things you want will always be there. When you take something for granted, you shouldn’t be surprised when that thing does not stick around. In the play, that thing was love. In scene six, Hope, a young girl looking for a future outside of her small town, had been proposed to; however, she had different plans for her life, or so she thought.
This particular scene in the play was centered on her return years after fleeing town following her proposal. She never gave the guy an answer however, when she returned to Maine she expected him to still there waiting. She explained to the stranger how it had been years, but she had hoped he would still be where she left him. In the end of the scene, Hope realizes the stranger she was talking to was actually Daniel, the young man who had proposed to her. Unfortunately for Hope, Danny was involved with another woman and was no longer interested in her.
One last life lesson I will mention was during the eighth scene; this was a scene between a married couple. The lesson to be learned here was that conflict is normal in human behavior; however, we must learn the proper manner in which we deal with said conflict. When two people have a conflict, there is a mature way to handle the situation. Talk about the problems, otherwise, like in the scene, eventually someone will explode on the other person and then the entire relationship is compromised. If along the way, the issues are dealt with as they arise, each person involved will be much happier.
I have nothing but good things to say about the production of “Almost, Maine.” I honestly was expecting mediocre acting with an underlying message that I did not care about in the least. So, congratulations to the cast and crew for a job well done.
