Drama Students Select Fall Theater Production "Almost, Maine"

Bill Johns' US Advanced Drama students have spoken, and their fall production is…Almost, Maine. It's rare for the Overlake Theater teacher to let students decide something as important as a play production, but he feels that their choice is an investment in their performances. 

Written by David Cariani, the romantic comedy captures nine short stories of different couples falling in or out of love in a fictional remote Maine village called Almost. “It’s a story where at nine o’clock every evening all of these individual personal stories happen simultaneously throughout this isolated village,” says Johns. The couples all share in the same spectacle- the Northern Lights. “Staring at the Aurora Borealis, all of the scenes are interconnected with references to other characters and places even though you never see them all together. It’s a great mosaic of all of these people and love.”

With nineteen students in his class, Johns has his students reading scripts as he prepares to assign roles. “We’re tasked to not only put on a show, but we’re also tasked to teach young people how to be actors. This play lets everybody be in a lead role,” says Johns.

The play has had its share of controversy with a same-sex couple among the characters. Johns says that actually attracted Overlake students to this script. “This isn’t just a play about love stories, cuteness, and everybody goes home happy. It also has the ability to tell our audience that same-sex couples go through the same issues that heterosexual couples go through. It’s a lovely message that’s not only entertaining but educational,” says Johns.

Because of student-athlete sporting event commitments, there will be no Saturday performances. Public performance dates for Almost, Maine are Friday, December 1 at 7:30 p.m. and two shows on Sunday, December 3 at 2:00 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.