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<p>Somewhere up north, in an almost-a-town territory called &#8220;Almost, Maine,&#8221; where the Northern Lights gleam purple and blue and folks think of Vermont as the balmy South, there&#8217;s a kind of magic going on.</p><p>You guessed it &#8212; it&#8217;s love.</p><p>In the John Cariani play, which continues this weekend with Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts at the J.J. Ferrara Center in Hazleton, audiences can watch &#8212; and sympathize with &#8212; the couples in nine vignettes.</p><p>All the scenarios take place, according to the program notes, &#8220;during the same 10 minutes, from around 8:50 to a bit after 9 p.m., on a cold, clear, moonless, slightly surreal Friday night in the middle of the deepest part of a Northern Maine winter.&#8221;</p><p>While some of the characters find their romantic relationships deepening, others realize they&#8217;ve been out of love for a while and still others &#8212; these are really fun to watch &#8212; wrestle with the idea that a long-time bowling or snowmobile-racing buddy could be more than just a friend.</p><p>Director Mike Wawrzynek answered a few questions about the show, which coincides so neatly with the week of St. Valentine&#8217;s Day.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> It seems like the vignettes offer something for everyone &#8212; from love lost to love moving to the next step to love just about to happen. Is there something for everyone to identify with?</p><p><strong>MW:</strong> This play is really for the romantics, the lovers, and the dreamers of the world. But, I think everyone can find some form of enjoyment in this comedic play. I mean, the themes and situations are universal&#8212;everyone experiences love in some capacity. And this show really strives to show love in its purest of forms. We have depictions of love in sweet ways, painful ways, ooey-gooey ways, comedic ways&#8212;you name it, we&#8217;ve got it! John Cariani has written a delightful comedy that&#8217;s appropriate for all audiences.</p><p><strong>TL: </strong>Which of the vignettes were the most fun to be put together?</p><p><strong>MW:</strong> I really enjoyed directing all of the scenes that involved physical comedy like slapstick, pratfalls, and general goofiness. The performers and I worked closely to identify comedic moments and then developed ways to make them both funny and safe for everyone. On the flipside, there was something really special about letting the performers just do their own thing. Some of the scenes were wonderfully simple to block because the chemistry between each of the performers allowed everything to come together organically. I love collaborating with performers and production team members because it allows everyone to invest their creative energy toward making the best possible project.</p><p><strong>TL: </strong> Did working on this play make you want to visit a place where you might actually see the Northern Lights?</p><p><strong>MW:</strong> It&#8217;s always been a dream of mine to visit Iceland and see the Northern Lights. My girlfriend and I are actually trying to plan a trip within the next year or so. We love the idea of being together in the middle of nowhere with the vast, beautiful, and changing nighttime sky above us. It sounds very romantic.</p><p><strong>TL:</strong> Would Almost, Maine be a difficult place to live because there are so few people &#8230; or do people there tend to look out for each other more, just for the sake of survival?</p><p><strong>MW:</strong> I think that Almost, Maine is a very special place; it&#8217;s always there when you need it. Sometimes it even feels like a magical place. To quote a popular 80s TV show: it&#8217;s a place where everybody knows your name. Even though the play is broken up into nine separate vignettes, characters and events from previous scenes are referenced regularly in other scenes. It&#8217;s a very interconnected script, and I think that speaks for just how connected, and supportive, this community is toward one another.</p><p><strong>TL: </strong> And all the vignettes take place during the same 10 minutes, even the first woman&#8217;s trip around the world?</p><p><strong>MW:</strong> Yes, the magic of the show is that every vignette happens in the same territory, under the same sky, and within the same 10-minute span. It&#8217;s meant to be fantastical, and I think that speaks to the message of the play: love can make the impossible possible.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">In the vignette titled &#8216;Her Heart,&#8217; Alicia Nordstrom portrays a character intent upon viewing the Northern Lights, which will shine in a variety of colors as the play &#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217; progresses. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.maine_.snowfall.jpg</photo0><caption0>In the vignette titled &#8216;Her Heart,&#8217; Alicia Nordstrom portrays a character intent upon viewing the Northern Lights, which will shine in a variety of colors as the play &#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217; progresses. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photo </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.main_.falling.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">When the vignette titled &#8216;They Fell&#8217; begins, characters portrayed by John Beppler and Brian Palladino try to top each other with stories about who had the worst date. It seems they&#8217;ve been looking for happiness in the wrong places. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.main_.falling.jpg</photo1><caption1>When the vignette titled &#8216;They Fell&#8217; begins, characters portrayed by John Beppler and Brian Palladino try to top each other with stories about who had the worst date. It seems they&#8217;ve been looking for happiness in the wrong places. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.maine_.ironing.board_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">An accidental blow to the head with an ironing board sparks a laundry-room conversation between characters portrayed by Brian Palladino and Ericka Law. Perhaps it will lead to something more. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.maine_.ironing.board_.jpg</photo2><caption2>An accidental blow to the head with an ironing board sparks a laundry-room conversation between characters portrayed by Brian Palladino and Ericka Law. Perhaps it will lead to something more. </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photo </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.main_.heart_.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">In one of the &#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217; vignettes, Alicia Nordstrom plays a character who collapses because of the damage done to her heart. Luckily, the character portrayed by Seth Brandreth knows how to repair things. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/web1_almost.main_.heart_.jpg</photo3><caption3>In one of the &#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217; vignettes, Alicia Nordstrom plays a character who collapses because of the damage done to her heart. Luckily, the character portrayed by Seth Brandreth knows how to repair things. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photo </photoCredit3></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>&#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217; offers variety of romantic vignettes</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO </strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;Almost, Maine&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who:</strong> Pennsylvania Theatre of Performing Arts</p><p><strong>When: </strong>7 p.m. Feb. 15-16 and 3 p.m. Feb. 17</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> J.J. Ferrara Center, 212 West Broad St., Hazleton</p><p><strong>Tickets:</strong> $20, $18, $10</p><p><strong>Info: </strong>570-454-5451 or ptpashows.org</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>

‘Love can make the impossible possible’