A small, snowy Northeast town full of young people struggling with their relationships and the concept of love. No, it’s not Binghamton. Welcome to the fictional town of Almost, Maine where Hinman Production Company’s (HPC) latest play takes place.
HPC presents “Almost, Maine,” its fall play for the semester. Written by John Cariani, the play was developed in 2002 at the Cape Cod Theater Project. The play consists of nine short vignettes with different characters and situations. In each scene the inhabitants of Almost, Maine deal with issues involving love, heartbreak and their relationships with each other.
Director Dana Vernetti, a senior majoring in political science, has been trying to produce “Almost, Maine” since her freshman year.
“I love this play,” Vernetti said. “I’ve known about this play since high school. I think it has such a magic about it. The series of vignettes is something you really don’t see a lot in theater. I think it’s very unique.”
Because of the nature of the play, many of the actors had to perform several characters across different scenes. According to cast member Sydney Fusto, a senior majoring in history, this proved to be difficult, but was ultimately a rewarding experience.
“It was a little challenging because you don’t have that one character that you can kind of go on the journey with,” Fusto said. “Being two different characters [can] pose a bit of a challenge to bring out all of the emotional stuff that you need to in a scene. It’s fun because it kind of creates variety and you get to be a bunch of different stuff at the same time.”
Vernetti said that, because of the play’s format, the actors might actually have an easier time playing multiple characters.
“Everyone plays multiple characters in this show and it’s great because having it in the vignettes like that, no one has too much,” Vernetti said. “They each have one or two specific characters, so it really allows the actor to delve into their characters and just really take on that role.”
This past month “Almost, Maine” had been part of a controversy in North Carolina, as a high school production was canceled due to some of the content. The controversy most likely came from one of the scenes where a young man confesses his love to his male friend. According to Vernetti, the HPC cast was aware of the story and all sympathized with the students who won’t be able to put on their production.
“We think that that’s a very important scene in the show,” Vernetti said. “It’s interesting because the play talks about so many different kinds of love and that scene can be taken a lot of different ways. It’s very important, especially in the day and age that we live in, to keep that scene in. At the heart of it, it’s about the friendship and that’s not something that should be taken for granted.”
HPC’s production of “Almost, Maine” premiered on Thursday, Oct. 23, and will have more performances at 8 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 24 and at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 25 in the Chenango Champlain Collegiate Center Multipurpose Room. Tickets cost $3.