AUDITION NOTICE:
Almost, Maine
by John Cariani
Directed by Ben Proeve
Date: Tuesday 22nd and Thursday 24th October, 7:20pm-10pm
Location: Stirling Community Theatre
Cast: 6-8 actors aged 18 – early 30s, actors of any gender, ethnicity, background and experience encouraged to audition
Season: Friday 11th July – Saturday 19th July 2025
Rehearsals: Tuesday and Thursday evenings and Sunday afternoons, either in the Stirling Community Theatre or a nearby hall commencing around April
Play Summary:
“Welcome to Almost, Maine, a place that’s so far north, it’s almost not in the United States. It’s almost in Canada. And it’s not quite a town, because its residents never got around to getting organized. So it almost doesn’t exist. One cold, clear, winter night, as the northern lights hover in the star-filled sky above, the residents of Almost, Maine, find themselves falling in and out of love in unexpected and hilarious ways. Knees are bruised. Hearts are broken. But the bruises heal, and the hearts mend—almost—in this delightful midwinter night’s dream.”
Almost, Maine features several vignettes of everyday characters from the same quiet town, all navigating the experience of love. Some are finding it for the first time, some have lost it, and some are trying to rediscover it. Each scene is intimate and all but one feature only two characters, and have different, quirky ways of representing love that push past the boundaries of realism.
Auditions:
Auditions will be held in two parts. In the first part, auditionees will book a short time slot and, quite simply, have to tell us about love. This can be done in a number of ways, such as telling us a story about love (be it fictional, from your life, or from someone else’s), explaining what love means to you, singing about love – anything. You do not need to be portraying a particular character, we just want to see how you connect with the main theme of the play.
In the second part, we will workshop a few excerpts from the script and trial various different pairings of actors.
The excerpts will be sent to you upon confirmation of your audition time.
Characters/Scenes
Each scene, or vignette has two characters (with the exception of Scene 2) who only appear in the one scene. Each actor cast will portray 2-3 characters.
Prologue/Interlogue/Epilogue:
PETE and GINETTE. Young couple early on in their relationship. GINETTE is vulnerable and honest, very much in love with PETE, who is equally in love but struggles to express it.
1: GLORY and EAST. Meeting for the first time, GLORY, a visitor carrying her broken heart, turns up in the yard of EAST, an easy-going handyman.
2: JIMMY, SANDRINE and WAITRESS. JIMMY, sadly struggling to move on from his ended relationship, bumps into his ex, SANDRINE, who is engaged, while being served by a cheerful WAITRESS.
3: STEVE and MARVALYN. STEVE has never felt pain and is trying to understand it, and is educated by MARVALYN, a woman in an unhappy relationship who knows it too well.
4: GAYLE and LENDALL. In a long-term relationship with no foreseeable direction, GAYLE demands back all the love she gave to her confused boyfriend LENDALL.
5. RANDY and CHAD – or – DEENA and SHELLY. Country kids and best friends struggling with the dating scene suddenly, and quite literally, fall for each other.
6. PHIL and MARCI. Two hard-working parents who are starting to realise they have lost their love for each other.
7. HOPE and MAN. HOPE has travelled the world and has come back looking for her ex, whose proposal she left unanswered, but finds the shell of a Man who has lost all hope.
8. RHONDA and DAVE. Gentle DAVE tries to get his best friend, the hard-shelled RHONDA, to see the love they have for each other.
To book an audition time, please fill out the Google Form at https://forms.gle/n14G2Z1H3smpCpbF7
For further information feel free to contact the director Ben at ben.proeve@gmail.com
