 |
| Photo by Kimberly Wick |
Written by Zachary Butler
On Thursday, April 16th at 7:00 in the Anthony Cappadonia memorial auditorium, the lights dimmed, and “Grease Lightning” faded into the opening scene of Almost, Maine, produced by the Alfred State Drama Club.
A play in the pandemic may sound like a challenging proposition, beyond the mechanics of a COVID compliant production, shouldn’t we be reduced to only essential activities? The Drama Club did an indisputably thorough job managing concerns. The play consisted of a series of 2 people per scene with a socially distanced audience. This production transported the audience and actors away to unincorporated Maine in a recent time which now feels like a memory. For an hour and a half, the complicated and challenging world disappeared, and the audience thought only of love and meaning and our relationships. Refreshing cannot adequately state the experience.
 | |
|
The curtains open on Pete (Noah Neal) and Ginette (MJ Volpe) on a bench, in the snow. This scene could just as well take place in Alfred—much of the play could. Noah and MJ start the play and bring it full circle. Their scene asks the audience to consider the journey which we take to find each other.
“My name’s East and I love lasagna”
Next, we see East (Seth Tinder) and Glory (Ruth Crowley). Seth delivers East’s dialogue marvelously, and from him, the audience and glory learn where they are, in Almost, the wildlands of Maine which never incorporated, under the northern lights. The set and lighting design for this scene, especially regarding the northern lights, was phenomenal.
“He was a good fish though”
Surly in a bar, Jimmy (Noah Bastedo), portrayed with an accuracy that stung, the interaction of bumping into an ex—Sandrine (Ruth Hessinger). Ruth and Noah portray all the subtle awkward moments which one would experience in this scenario, while Villian (MJ Volpe) interjected, adding to the awkwardness.
 | |
|
Marvarlyn (Ashley Miller) and Steve (AJ Richardson) brilliantly depicted a scene that asked the audience to confront the reality of a bad situation by looking at it in its simplest terms. AJ and Ashley navigated this challenging scene skillfully. AJ’s delivery of innocent questions and apparent lack of understanding was compelling, and Ashley’s depiction of denial and rationalizing echoed frightfully through the auditorium—as did the crash of an ironing board against AJ’s head.
 | |
|
Gayle (Ruth Crowley) storms in and begins a scene that appears to be a heart-wrenching breakup. The scene transforms at the end with a heartwarming twist delivered by Lendall (James Abbott). This beautifully performed scene carries the audience into intermission.
 | |
|
Chad (Noah Bastedo) and Randy (Jacob Whalen) performed a scene that depicted the difficult process of understanding oneself. It grappled with the idea of modernity in a small town, which likely resonates with much of the student body. The performers did a really great job making the scene tangible and expressing the idea that who one chooses to love is a choice each person must make, and we must respect each other’s choices, there is no other way.
“Wait? What? Why?”
Real relationships rarely blow up the way they do in a media where characters’ lives are dictated by a script. The portrayal of Phil (Ralf Jean-Franscois) and Marci (Grace Musingo) does not back down from this reality. Ralf and Grace deliver meticulously measured performances their tones growing in desperation building to the final devastating moment where Marci walks away, leaving Phil staring at the stars—and Jupiter, alone.
“A taxi all the way from Bangor!”
If Ralf and Grace had not yet brought the audience to tears (which is unlikely) the performance of Hope (Katie Brooks) and Daniel (Noah Neal) certainly would. This story dealt with putting life before love and that “what if…” which tends to haunt those who do. Katie and Noah conveyed the palpable remorse and the feeling of finality which linger around such memories.
“You wanna know what comes next-next?”
In the last, lighthearted story, the audience sees two fun performances of Rhonda (Jamie Roberts), and Dave (Alex Biondo) around the idea of recognizing love. The performers built on each other’s energy to reach a comical ending with an extremely rapid costume change.
The show ended with a return to Pete and Ginette, who gave a heartfelt conclusion to the production. The performers came out to thunderous applause, especially for a limited and socially distant audience.
This production showed what resolve in the pandemic looks like. The whole cast and crew went to great lengths to act in accordance with COVID guidelines, but they carried on doing an activity that brings performers and crew purpose and the audience great joy.
No comments:
Post a Comment