Daegu Theater Troup seeks to win the hearts of local theatergoers as it kicks of the year with a performance of “Almost, Maine.”
The play by John Cariani is made of nine short plays that look at different aspects of love, all based in the fictional town in the title.
“We wanted to start the 2015 season off with an all-inclusive play. There are a lot of talented actors in Daegu, and many more that are newly arrived,” said Victoria Anderson, one of the play’s directors. “‘Almost, Maine’ was a perfect vehicle to showcase old and new talent and to bring new directors on board.”
With each short play involving two or three actors there was a large cast, but the troupe took the extra step of splitting it into separate pieces with eight different directors.
Nikola Haupt, another director, said this did pose a challenge in keeping a consistent feel across the different plays.
“It could be tricky: The different lovers have such different stories,” she said. “(But) the experience of negotiating love, sex and romance are universal. The town of Almost in Maine is just a microcosm.”
Anderson, who is also the play’s technician, said the directors would have their own styles, but that music was one way they gave the play a consistent theme.
She said she was pleasantly surprised at the director’s ideas for the sound.
“I was a kid in a candy store putting together the music for this. Their idea changed the feel of the whole production and made it more grounded, more real,” she said.
“For me, because they chose the artists I grew up listening to, it made choosing and editing the music a labor of love. The music really showcases and amplifies the consistency between performances and directors.”
The play is whimsical and gently humorous, and another challenge, said Haupt, was finding the romance in the plays.
“Romance is extremely hard to portray without getting cute or gooey,” she said. “That’s why romantic comedies are never romantic!”
Anderson had a message for those who would come to the play.
“You will see, yet again, top-class talent presenting a wonderful play,” she said. “You will see and feel love: love for theater, love for acting, love for Daegu and love for our wonderful audience who continually show up and support live theater in Daegu.”
The play will run at the Gukdan Onuri Theater near City Hall at 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.
For more information, email daegutheatre@gmail.com.
By Paul Kerry (
paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)
