Photo by Sarah Finnegan.
Vestavia Hills High School theater teacher Jamie Stephenson talks through a scene with seniors Dina Casman, left, and Gracie Phillips during a Sept. 18 rehearsal of “Almost, Maine.”
In “Almost, Maine,” an off-Broadway play by John Cariani, the residents of a remote town near the Canadian border find themselves falling in and out of love in strange ways on a winter night.
It’s the play’s focus on love — a universal topic — and its “real moments” between characters that caused Jamie Stephenson, the theatre director at Vestavia Hills High School, to choose it for her students’ fall production.
“I think a play about the success, or hardship, of relationships is something that impacts us all, so we can relate to it,” Stephenson said. “This is a play that allows you to laugh and hurt for the characters.”
Vestavia Hills High School Theatre will present “Almost, Maine,” from Thursday, Oct. 12, through Saturday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. in the school auditorium.
“Almost, Maine,” which premiered in 2004 and is now a popular production in American high schools, is actually composed of nine short plays that explore love and loss in a made-up town.
It’s also an excellent learning opportunity for student actors, according to Stephenson
“Any time students can be on stage and represent someone completely different from themselves, it changes their perspectives towards other people,” Stephenson said. “Theatre helps us be more empathetic towards each other, because we can start to understand and appreciate how different we all are.”
There are 15 students in the cast and 15 more working on the show in other capacities, according to Stephenson.
Admission is $7. For more information, call 402-5250 or go to https://sites.google.com/vhcs.vestavia.k12.al.us/theatre.
