WHAT: “Almost, Maine”

WHEN: Oct 19-21 and 25-28. Showtimes: 7 p.m. Thursday; 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and 2 p.m. Sunday

WHERE: The Public Theatre at Lisbon and Maple streets, Lewiston

TICKETS: $18/$16; $14 group rate for 10 or more

CALL: 782-3200

‘Almost, Maine’ aims for the heart by way of the funny bone

LEWISTON – No Maine caricatures – just honesty.

That’s what you’ll find in The Public Theatre’s production of “Almost, Maine,” which opens the theater’s 17th season Friday, Oct. 19.

In this whimsical romantic comedy, eight couples approach life and love in a series of vignettes that swing from dreamy to quirky.

Christopher Schario, TPT’s artistic director, and Janet Mitchko, associate artistic director, point out that there is none of today’s cynicism in the people of “Almost, Maine.” They are swept up in the magic of the northern lights.

Mitchko said the play takes place on a Friday evening in the middle of winter when eight decent souls humorously seek out a human connection amid the lonely vastness of the Pine Tree State.

An eccentric and endearing group of Mainers populate this play written by John Cariani, a native of Presque Isle. They fall in and out of love in ways that only people who live in close proximity to wild moose can do.

Cariani told an Internet reporter that his play was written “for northern Maine and the people who are from there.” He said he believes his Aroostook County neighbors “are surprised by that – and relieved that I didn’t make fun of them (or the town) in my play.”

Schario, who directs this production, calls “Almost, Maine” the perfect “date play” for young and old.

According to Martin Andrucki, TPT literary adviser, Cariani writes about a slice of American life rarely glimpsed on the New York stage. “When he writes about life in New England, he comes at his subject with an insider’s knowledge,” Andrucki said.

Andrucki, who is Charles A. Dana Professor of Theater at Bates College, wrote in his TPT study guide for this show that “Almost, Maine” depicts people of small-town, far-northern New England whose lives are shaped by a harsh but beautiful environment.

He emphasizes that they are “shaped, but not warped.”

Andrucki also points out that Cariani sums up his view of the characters in his play in a note he provides for actors performing the work.

Cariani’s note reads: “The people of ‘Almost, Maine’ are honest and true. They are not cynical. They are smart. They wonder about things.”

Cariani is an actor as well as a playwright. His credits include a Tony nomination for his role as Motel, the tailor, in a 2004 Broadway revival of “Fiddler on the Roof.” He also has appeared in TV’s “Law and Order.”

“Almost, Maine” had a well-received off-Broadway run in 2005.

Portraying all the female characters in TPT’s production will be Tarah Flanagan and Janet Mitchko, both of whom have appeared several times at TPT. Flanagan appeared as Tansy in “The Nerd,” and Mitchko was in “Miss Witherspoon” and “Enchanted April.”

John Patrick Driscoll and David Mason will play the various men in the play. Both are new faces to TPT audiences, with extensive experience in New York and regional theater.

The wintry set for “Almost, Maine” is designed by Dan Bilodeau, whose work was seen in TPT’s productions of “Proof” and “Private Lives.”

Lighting, including the wondrous northern lights, are by Bart Garvey, and costumes are by Kris Hall.