Almost Maine by John Cariani.
Directed by Zachery Bridgman. Assistant director Anna Hemmings. Stage Manager and sound and lighting operation. Rhiley Winnett. Set design Chris baldock. Lighting and sound design Rhiley Winnett and Zac Bridgman. Costumes Cast and Crew. Projections Chris Baldock. Publicity and photographs Chris Baldock. Intimacy Coordination Steph Evans. Belco Arts. Belconnen Arts Centre. March 18-28 2026. Bookings: Mockingbirdtheatrics.com
Reviewed by Peter Wilkins
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| Wendy Wakwella and Alastair McKenzie in Seeing The Thing Scene Eight of Almost Maine |
Designer Chris Baldock places the different scenes in a snow covered setting at 9 p.m. against a starry sky. It is the perfect setting for this story of love in a cold climate. Here we are witness to happy love, sad love, confused love, lost love, love confounded and love denied. Cariani’s characters are recognizable, human, fallible, clumsily, awkwardly and sometimes fearfully negotiating love’s terrain, making mistakes, uttering excuses, expressing joy, voicing anger, drifting apart and coming together. We see ourselves in their search for love which makes Cariani’s play such a revelation. The dialogue veers from the naturalistic to the symbolic to the absurd, underpinning the many aspects of love’s experience.
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| Alexander Wilson and Jayde Dowhy in Story of Hope Scene 7 of Almost Maine |
Four actors play the many characters in the eight scenes, swiftly switching character and costume as well as assisting with simple set changes where required. Director Zac Bridgman has assembled an outstanding young cast, whose performances are entirely engaging, energetic and endearing. There is a captivating vulnerability to the five characters that Alexander Wilson plays. This contrasts with Alastair Mackenzie’s more quirky, larrikin characterization. Jade Dowhy brings a neurotic aspect to her characters while Wendy Wakwella lends a feisty touch to her performances. All four give their characters distinctive lives, capturing their uniqueness with versatility and conviction. It is a delight to watch each actor play out the humour or the pathos, the volatility or the tenderness, the absurdity or the sincerity in Cariani's investigation of love's many guises. Almost Maine is Cariani’s gift to his actors and in this production the four actors rise to the challenge and create performances that will capture your hearts, make you laugh, make you cry and feel the power of love.
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| Jayde Dowhy and Alastair McKenzie in Hewr Heart Episode One of Almost Maine |
Director Zac Bridgeman orchestrates the production like an artist brushstroking life into his canvas. The timing is impeccable. The business is inventive, changing its tempo from the heartwarming to the hilarious or the awkward to the impulsive. The production flows from one moment to the next, assisted by Rhiley Winnet and Bridgman’s lighting and sound design. The entire production is a labour of love. It is in the characters that Wilson, Dowhy, McKenzie and Wakwella bring so vividly to life. It is in Bridgman’s imaginative and intelligent direction. It is the mood evoked by Baldock’s design of this production in the intimacy of the theatre space. And it is in the enthusiastic applause of the audience at the end of the play.
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| Alexander Wilson and Wendy Wakwella in the Prologue to John Cariani's play Almost Home |
There is a simplicity about Cariani’s play that makes it impossible to resist. The play relies on the honesty of the performances to succeed and Bridgman and his cast have triumphed in creating theatre that entertains and enlightens. Too few members of the audience came out on the wet night to be warmed to the heart by this joyful production. I hope that the season will soon be playing to full houses. If you love excellent feel good theatre then Mockingbird Theatrics’ production of Almost Maine is not to be missed.