In a series of short and lightly surreal scenes, Almost Maine tells the story of loosely connected couples in a small remote northern town. Everyone is navigating love’s terrain on the same cold, clear winter evening for the same ten minutes. Short, vignette-like scenes abound.
With so much necessary social distancing and mask wearing, it may be a little difficult to get in touch with Christmas cheer this December. But lucky us, the A.D. Players are presenting (either in-person in their parking lot, or virtually, take your pick)
Merry Christmas Darling: Heidi Kettenring Sings Karen Carpenter, where you can take a walk down memory lane and enjoy Christmas standardsâas well as the non-holiday-centric hitsâfrom The Carpenters, the wildly successful brother and sister duo that had all sorts of cheerful pop songs on the charts in the 1970s and produced a Christmas album that is still beloved to this day.
In the continuing pandemic when all stages are shuttered, the only refuge we have as theatergoers is to watch the computer screen.
At best, theaters are attempting to employ their actors and stagehands and provide us with much needed diversion. Unfortunately they haven t as yet conquered that dreaded Hollywood Squares look which has plagued us all with actors emoting in their own tiny little boxes. This might bring us close to them, certainly a lot closer than in the tenth row, but it seems to enforce their own separateness. They re acting alone, usually in their own home, interacting with their fellow players who may very well be miles away in their own house. It s a very disjointed experience for them and for us. But it s all we have for the foreseeable future.