Production 2022: Almost, Maine

Almost, Maine 2022

Term 1 is that time of year: time for the major high school production! In 2021, the students wrote, shot and edited an entire half-hour short film, When the Party’s Over. It was a sweeping success. However, this year we took the opportunity to put on a good ol’ fashioned play.

Almost, Maine is a play by John Cariani involving several little love stories in the fictional town of Almost, Maine. The play took into consideration Covid protocols, as the script allowed for only 2 – 3 actors onstage at once. I’m guessing many avid theatre kids were happy to finally have an in-person, actual play to perform.

After plenty of students, including myself, nervously auditioned for the production at the end of last year, rehearsals began and the excitement grew. The cast scrambled to learn pages of lines as the performance date neared, and teachers and students banded together to gather props and decorations (thanks for all the stuff Ms Janssens). After a whole term of rehearsals, the cast was full of anticipation.

A week before the show, the fabulous AV crew jumped on a bus to start the arduous task of rigging the lights at the Struben House hall. By the time the day arrived, the lights were up and illuminated the beautiful scenery.

With winter coats and stage makeup on (courtesy of Julia, Ms Kolesky and Ms Steyn) we were ready. The audience rolled into the hall decorated with wintery Christmas trees and paper snowflakes from the art club. A perfect winter scene in the middle of summer.

The show was excellent; people were raving. They laughed, cried, sighed, gasped; Almost, Maine had everything, and we were met with a wave of compliments from impressed viewers. Thanks to everyone who came to support us, and if you missed it, you can always check out the recording that will be posted on the school’s Youtube channel.