The Emerson Theater Collaborative will offer three performances of “Almost Maine” on Friday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 2, at 7 p.m., and Sunday, Dec. 3, at 2 p.m. at the Verde Valley School’s Brady Hall at 3511 Verde Valley School Road in the Village of Oak Creek.
The play’s nine vignettes will be directed by Camilla Ross, Mindy Mendelsohn and Jon Capozzoli, with a cast of six playing multiple roles to take the audience through the lives and the relationships of the residents of Almost.
“Welcome to Almost, Maine,” Ross said. “A place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States, it’s almost in Canada. It’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting [incorporated], so it almost doesn’t exist. It goes one cold, clear night, [with] the Northern Lights in the star-filled skies above. The residents of Almost find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. There are nine scenes, and we have six amazing actors that cover those scenes, and it’s all about human connection.”
The cast includes Dave Belkiewitz, Matt Egan, Kirstyn Lazur, La Rivers, Sean Spencer and Audrey Young.
Capozzoli explained that co-directing is both rewarding and poses its own challenges.
“I’ve worked on codirecting pieces before and it is about communication at the end of the day,” Capozzoli said. “Luckily, I’ve known Mindy for three years. But I’ve known Camilla for 15. We’ve worked together on lots of projects, so it’s nice that we get to work on something together, especially a holiday show about community and love. It takes some time, and it takes some meetings and we decided on a solid direction to go in together.”
The staging for the play will involve the combination of a black box set with elements of magicalrealism.
“There’s a scene called ‘I Want It Back’ where a woman comes into her boyfriend’s house who’s lying asleep and she says, ‘Lendall! I want it back,’ and he goes, ‘What?’ She goes, ‘I want it back.’ And he asks ‘What?’ She responds, ‘All the love I gave you, I want it back,’ and she comes in with this giant bag of love,” Mendelsohn said. “We’re suddenly taking metaphoric love and making it literal. So the show captures the way love is beautiful, poignant and opens our hearts as we stumbled around like fools. We’re in Sedona, it doesn’t matter how much spiritual work you’ve done, we all stumble around.”
Emerson Theater will also be offering an open house at the Verde Valley School on Tuesday, Nov. 28, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. as part of GivingTuesday.
“I hope people come out to have fun, and lean back into that sitcom feeling that we were able to get back before COVID, and laugh a little and feel a little and just be part of the community,” Capozzoli said.
Food and beverages will be provided, allowing guests to socialize with the cast and catch a sneak peek of select moments during a technical rehearsal.
Admission is complimentary for the rehearsal, but donation envelopes will be available for those who wish to contribute. The goal is to provide the community with a more personalized approach to fundraising, moving beyond a simple online request for donations.
For more information and tickets, visit emersontheatercollaborative.org or call (860) 705-9711.
