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From the Director:

Covid-19 has turned the world, as we know it, and human interaction, as we usually experience it, upside down. Like people all over the world, those of us who work with community theatre must face new realities. At this time, it not safe and therefore not possible for actors to rehearse or perform a play by being in close contact with other actors. It’s not safe for actors and tech crew members to work side by side building sets. It’s not possible for theater patrons to go inside to a theatre with a large group of people and sit elbow to elbow with them in order to watch live theater.

We are determined to keep the arts and community theatre alive during the pandemic. So, El Paseo Arts is using a theatrical form that allows the performers and the crew to maintain a safe social distance from one another. We are also using a theatrical form that allows us to share theatre with our audience in a safe way.

Our production of Almost, Maine is performed as a stage reading or Readers Theater. Reader’s Theater is "theatre of the imagination". It is a medium in which two or more actors, through their oral reading cause the audience to experience literature. Readers Theatre differs from a conventional play in various ways. The actors read from a script and sit or stand in a fixed positions. There is no attempt made to create the sense of reality on stage. A narrative voice guides us through the story. There is no set, little movement, and the actors use what is called an
OFFSTAGE FOCUS. The performers do not look at each other on stage as they would in life, but visualize their characters toward the audience in front of them. They can “leave the scene” simply by turning away or by looking down at their script. The performers create images using their voices and physical expressions, and these images are formed not on stage but in the minds of the audience--that's where the action takes place.

Almost, Maine is a play that works well as a readers theater performance because dialogue is the primary way that the characters interact. There is a minimal amount of physical action and the narrator can tell that part of the story. It also is a play that allows the actors to be socially distanced in performance because there are usually only two characters in the scenes, along with the narrator. We did all our rehearsals virtually. When we came together to do the filming, we took everyone’s
temperature; the actors and the crew wore masks except when they were on camera; and the actors employed social distancing during the performance.

We hope you will enjoy this production of Almost, Maine. Come along with us as we try to recreate the magic that touches nine couples on a cold, clear, slightly surreal, moonless night in the middle of the deepest part of a northern Maine winter.

Together, we are helping to keep the art of theater alive in our communities.

JoAnn Evans

President

El Paseo Arts Foundation