On October 25 and 26, the Edison High auditorium opened its welcoming doors to the Drama Department’s fall production of Almost, Maine. Overall, the play was an enjoyable and entertaining performance, focusing on some very traditional themes: love lost, love found, unrequited love, friends-to-lovers, and possible second chances. More than once, I felt myself saying “Awh…” out loud as the cast brought me out of the audience and into their fictional world.

As the curtains opened and the lights dimmed, we were introduced to the small Maine town of Almost. The Northern Lights were shining down on this particular Friday night, illuminating the chaos, love, and disappointment of the residents of Almost. Almost, Maine is different from what I expected in a play–instead of one main plot, it was nine different (but interconnected) love stories. Spoiler alert: you have to watch to the end.

Act I introduced us to Pete (Thomas Turek ‘27) and his girlfriend Ginette (Gracie Sloan ‘27) who silently share their feelings for one another. While everyone brought life to their characters, Turek and Sloan were two actors who stood out during the play. They were able to connect two people with very different characteristics and demeanors, while showing the chemistry between Pete and Ginette even when Ginette thought that Pete was uninterested.

Turek and Sloan really had me believing that Pete and Ginette were meant to end up together. It’s something I’ve seen before in the real world, and I was totally convinced by their performances. The way Turek played Pete’s awkwardness around Ginette made me believe that he was interested in her, even when Ginette didn’t think so. Sloan’s portrayal of Ginette’s disappointment when she thought that Pete was not interested in her, made me root for the characters to realize their love for each other.

Glory (Layna Ortiz-Albino ‘25) settles in East’s (Dannijames Vergara ‘25) backyard to watch the northern lights to commemorate her dead husband until she has to battle the guilt of moving on when East kisses her and confesses his feelings for her. Ortiz-Albino and Vergara stood out because of how they seemingly went from two complete strangers at their first meeting to developing obvious chemistry together that made me hope that Glory was able to move on from her deceased husband and give East a chance.

Jimmy (Javier Jimenez ‘26) and his ex Sandrine (Ashley Singh ‘27) coincidentally meet in a bar, and Jimmy expresses his feelings to an engaged Sandrine–but a certain waitress (Trinity Trotman ‘28) might just change who he longs for. The plot twist at the end between the connection of Trotman’s character and Jimmy’s misspelled tattoo made me audibly gasp and my mouth gape. I was so happy that Jimmy had a new start with his love life after learning that Sandrine was engaged.

Steve (Erick Rosario ‘25) and Marvalyn (Priscilla Samuel ‘25) met in their apartment building’s laundry room. Marvalyn accidently hits him with her ironing board and apologizes over and over again, while Steve reassures her that he is okay because he can’t feel pain. During their conversation, Steve reveals that his brother has been helping him figure out what causes pain and what he should be afraid of, one of those things being love. Their short lived love story shows as Marvalyn changes Steve’s perception of love, but unfortunately she had a boyfriend who she may not be too happy with but won’t accept.

Rosario and Samuel’s delivery of connecting the two characters who were not destined to be together kept me engaged as to how their story was going to play out. They had me convinced that these two characters were going to fall in love and have a happy ending together. In a more sorrowful plot twist, I was heartbroken that Maralyn let Steve go even though I could clearly see she was falling for him too.

Finally, Act I ended with Gayle (Sara Geraldes ‘27) trying to break up with Leslie (Kaylee Christel ‘27) because Gayle thought that Leslie did not want to get married. Gayle shows Leslie her love in piles of garbage bags. After fighting out the breakup, Leslie gives in and shows Gayle her love back too, but it turns out to be a singular red bag. Gayle realizes that she was a bad girlfriend to Leslie, but in the midst of Gayle apologizing to Leslie, they reveal that inside the red bag is an engagement ring.

While watching Geraldes and Christel act out their characters, I first sided with Leslie. Then I was mad at Gayle. But by the end of the play I sympathized with both Gayle and Leslie and was happy that they were able to communicate and work out their problems to have the happy ending they deserve.

To start Act II, Pete made a reappearance to show how he realizes he messed up with Ginette as he longfully looks in the direction she walked away from.

After this, we were welcomed by the rest of the residents of Almost as they continued to battle their love problems. Scene Five introduced us to Deena (Sara Nasrullah ‘25) and Shelly (Kylie Pedana ‘27) as they shared a few drinks. Shelly realizes that the only thing that has made sense in her life is Deena, causing Deena to battle with her feelings for Leslie. At first, I was cringing and stressed along with Deena who was obviously trying to figure out what Shelly’s love confession meant for her, and for them. Although by the end of the play, I was laughing at how the two characters kept collapsing to show that the two friends had finally fallen in love with one another.

The scene then changed over to Phil (Brandon Chung ‘25) and Marci (Naomi Edema ‘26), a married couple fighting about Phil’s lack of attention and Marci’s inability to communicate her feelings, unfortunately ending with Marci melancholically walking away from Phil. Although during Chund and Edema’s scene I sided with Marci ever since she revealed that it was their anniversary and he forgot it, I understood their need to separate after Phil started complaining about Marci’s poor communication, since I could tell they probably aren’t the best fit couple. It was a saddening ending to see, but I believe it was for the best.

Scene Seven presented Hope (Daniela Ezeta ‘25), who knocks on Daniel’s (Krrish Patel ‘25) door, hoping to get back into his life since she left him when he proposed and didn’t answer him. The man who answers Hope does not look like Daniel, making her assume that he has moved since they last saw each other. In the end, the man reveals that he is Daniel, but as this happens his wife calls him in the background.

Ezeta was another one of the actors in the play that stood out in her role. Ezeta showed Hope’s emotions in a way where the audience could tell how different situations made her feel without anyone having to directly say it. Ezeta showed Hope’s awkwardness while talking to Daniel by  fidgeting with her hands, and her different tones of voice showed a different emotion that Hope is going through. Ezeta thoroughly portrayed Hope’s anxiousness by talking fast whenever Hope was nervous, and by fidgeting with her hands to show further how Hope was feeling.

At the end of Act II, Dave (Alejandro Resto Rivera ‘25) gives his best friend Rhonda (Olivia Pellizzon ‘26) a painting he made for her, as he confesses his feelings for her but she does not seem to share his feelings because she has never had a boyfriend and does not think that anyone would be interested in her. I was really invested in this scene because I was really curious what the painting was of, and why Rhonda could not figure out the meaning of it. I was also really shocked when all of the previous characters connected to his play. It was an “A-ha!” moment when I realized that this was happening all on the same Friday night, and that all of the characters are interconnected. The play ends with a sweet ending to Pete and Ginette’s love story, with the happy couple being together.

Although some of the jokes were targeted towards a younger, more teen audience, laughter filled the auditorium during the play’s two-hour duration. When it ended, everyone that I could see walked out with a smile on their face.

Overall, the actors did a great job playing their characters to put on this year’s production of Almost, Maine. The two-hour duration felt like it flew by quickly. This production by EHS is a good way to spend an evening, but it wouldn’t have been able to happen without the further help of the rest of the crew. Let’s also congratulate everyone who put in their hard work behind the scenes to ensure that the production went smoothly:

Directed by: Ms. Jessica Eckhoff
Assistant Directed by: Ms. Gabriela Padilla
Set Design and Production by: Mr. John Leslie
Assistant Costume Design: Gracie Sloan ‘27
Run Crew: Dennis Yusupov ‘27, Katherine A. Ventura Medrano ‘26, Shabin Mathy ‘26, Gisele M. Gaspard ‘26
Understudies: Catherine Dulog ‘28 and Sha’mai Young ‘28