Almost, Maine
OSO Theatre, Barnes
until 8th November
The metaphorical turns literal in John Cariani’s masterwork, which sees 9 ordinary pairs of people experience miraculous events, all in the name of love, on one cold winter night in northern Maine.
One of the most popular plays in the US, Almost, Maine has been professionally produced over a hundred times since its premiere in 2004 but is rarely seen on UK stages.
Directed by Lydia Sax this production sees 8 actors play 20 characters across the play’s 9 vignettes.
With nearly a quarter of adults reporting feeling lonely in 2026, Cariani’s heartwarming stories of connection between strangers have never felt timelier, needed and touching.
First of all, what does the title mean? Almost, Maine is the name of a small town on the outskirts of Maine. Its inhabitants are so disorganised and absent minded that they have never gotten round to properly naming the place hence it has become known as Almost Maine.
This lack of purpose about their lives shows throughout the play. They all want to be loved, in love and in a relationship but aren’t sure how to go about it – or have gone about it in the wrong way – how about a wife who has murdered her husband to get out of a dull, unrewarding marriage?
The 9 short plays show couple in various stages of being in love or relationships from a young couple who have started dating but are too inexperienced to know how to move the thing forward – to take that first step and kiss and decide to try to see if there is any future for them together as a couple, to a woman with a broken heart and a man who resolves to try to fix it for her, to a man about to propose to a girl he has adored from afar for a long time without her realising it, to a man who’s emotional growth was stunted as a child by the death of his mother that he no longer is about to feel pain of any sort, to two proper geezer-guys trying to out-do each other with tales of how they were dumped by their previous girlfriends in the worst possible way only to bond in the most unexpected way when one of them falls down, to an ice skater who has lost her shoe and doesn’t know where or when it happened, to a woman returning to a man who previously proposed to her but she didn’t give him an answer but now, years later, is ready to commit and finally to a couple who have been good friends for a long time but can’t find the right way to tell the other one that they love them.
These are the themes around each short scene which seem simple enough but they take on a whole new level of meaning in the very cleverly crafted play which tells us so much more about love, affection and being able to commit to another humour being.
Alice Kim’s set design is a simple one which easily transforms to nine different setting in Maine with the minimal of change or delay. Simple costumes equally inform us of the different characters the same actors are playing to previously but do not distract from the drama being played out before us.
Director Sax paces the play very well – there is never a dull moment and cleverly uses everyday objects as metaphors for feelings which always bring a smile to the audience’s faces as they spot them.
All of the actors are excellent playing each new character to perfection – there is never any confusion about who they are supposed to be now even though, obviously, they still have the same faces. Plaudits to Sarah Thorn, Drew Cleveland, Joel Horwood (making his UK stage debut), Maurii Davenport, Andre Bullock, Erica Schoenbinger, Madeline Pell and Ben Elliott.
This is an outstanding play and an excellent production of it. It is emotional, sometimes sentimental (without being icky), funny, sad but most of all it is a delight to watch. I cannot recommend this play highly enough.
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Reviewer: Mike Linane