Almost time for “Almost Maine”: The Drama Department takes on the second project of 2015-2016

Throughout the course of every single person’s life, they will all experience some form of an almost. Whether it be an almost kiss, an almost break-up, or almost a B on that math test, almosts are frequent and prevalent in all of our real lives. This year’s straight (non-musical) play, “Almost Maine,” as indicated by the title, revolves around almosts.

From being so far north that it’s almost in Canada, to almost not existing because the residents never got around to getting organized, to almost being close to a person, and to almost falling in love, “Almost Maine” is full of almosts.

When the new director of the drama department, Ms. CeCe Weeks took the reigns at the beginning of the year, her directorial style was fairly unknown. Finally, the opportunity came to see Northern’s production of “All Shook Up” the musical, and what Week’s’ directional style would be like. As anyone who saw or was in the musical may attest, her directorial style is absolutely amazing. The direction and production of “All Shook Up” went off without a hitch, and as many students and staff here at Northern would agree, Weeks has done and will continue to do an astonishing job. Based off of all the positive feedback that came off of the musical, “Almost Maine” will be surely be a production to behold.

“The musical was beautifully directed, and as I have a background in directing myself, the blocking and movement of the characters on stage was beautifully coordinated”, says Ms. (Nancy) Nott, “I thought she found a really good balance between having fun with these characters and not mocking them. I’m looking forward to ‘Almost Maine’ because I’ve read and attended a lot of plays, and I’ve never heard of it. When you don’t have a preconceived notion of how something’s supposed to be directed, especially with a director like Mrs. Weeks that can be really fun to watch.”

“ I thought the musical was surprisingly well done, given some of the troubles with things at the end of last year, and that Mrs. Weeks is new and didn’t know many of the kids,” explains musical cast member as well as recently cast play member, Elliot Hoinville (10). “I think she did a great job organizing it all and keeping us together, and I can’t wait for ‘Almost Maine’ to have an opportunity to work with her again.”

With each new show comes new and differing opinions from the previous Northern show. “All Shook Up” and “Almost Maine” will be no different. Both plays are almost similar in premise, with the overall theme being love.

However, the premise of this play is extremely unique. On a cold winter’s night, with the Northern Lights illuminating the sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine find themselves falling in and out of love in the strangest of ways. Hearts are broken, heads are struck, marriages tested, and love is found, unfound, and confounded. And life for the people of this small town called Almost, will never be the same. It’s a love story. Almost.