North’s theater program begins its season with “Almost, Maine”, a play quite different from previous stage productions.

“Almost, Maine” was originally written by John Cariani, and it is a story focused on the idea of acquiring and losing love. Shown through metaphors, symbolism and character development throughout the duration of the play, it ultimately centers around the human heart.

“The show also revolves around the idea of love and all the different forms it takes from young love, to friends and even the ending of love,” economics teacher and set director Sean Barber said.

Barber oversees the building of the sets and the tech crew that assists him.

“This year’s set has been a joy to build,” Barber said. “It is the first stationary set that I have designed in four years. So, the set is much bigger, and we can focus more on one project since it is just one large piece and not several smaller pieces that have to be movable.”

Equally important, physics teacher Lori Kraus oversees t-shirts, tickets, signs, costumes, makeup and the playbill.

“This show has been easier than the past,” Kraus said. “Costumes are present day, so actors will be creating their own costumes to match with their understanding of their character.”

The casting has been done specifically to fit each character’s role in the play. Rehearsals have been smooth for the people involved in the production.

“This year’s fall play is very different from previous ones,” junior Bella Cruz said. “Each couple has their own individual story arc, with each character experiencing different emotions such as loss, heartbreak and pain, but also happiness, hope and love.”

Students working both in acting and with the tech crew also end up establishing strong, lasting friendships with each other because of extended time spent working together.

“Each scene has a different plot,” senior Jean Garcera said. “This has kind of caused a disconnect between people in different scenes, but has caused us to be very close to our scene partner. The disconnect will probably be solved once we start combining rehearsals.”

For the seniors, this will be their last fall play performance, and it will be a heartfelt and emotional exit. Seniors Sydney Swanson, Josh Whitfield and Alex Doonan are all planning on majoring in theatre while many others are planning on acting outside of their major.

“I know that on the last day of the last performance, the gravity that I’m going to be gone next year is going to come crashing down,” senior Andrew Mosier said. “I’m happy it will happen around people I’ve worked with so closely.”

There are some challenges to putting a cohesive production together because scenes have separate duos performing together.

“We have seventeen actors in this show [and] almost all the scenes are a pair of actors,” Kraus said.  “We do have several seniors who are familiar with the stage and have been working on their acting skills for several years.  I anticipate some great performances from this group.”

“Almost, Maine” was chosen due to its unique story and ability to reflect the performances in duos and to cover the concept of love.

“This years’ show is different from the shows we have done recently as each actor is in one scene,” Barber said. “It is a true ensemble cast and because of the structure of the show there is more time to work with every actor individually.”

The play is set to run from Nov. 16 to Nov. 18, and tickets will become available in the Main Office starting on Nov. 1.

“‘Almost, Maine’ will leave the audience with laughter, tears and ultimately a heartful message of what it means to be human,” Cruz said.