There was a nice little piece in the Times recently about a little play I've never heard of. It's called “Almost, Maine”; it lived and died off-Broadway several years ago; and now it's having a very happy afterlife in regional theater all over the world.
According to the article, it's ideal for local groups for any number of reasons. It's pleasant without being corny; it's relatively easy to stage; and it can accommodate as few as four actors and as many as seventeen, depending on how many people you need to cast.
Providence is pretty rich in theater. We have a couple of really good local companies (especially Trinity and Gamm), several smaller groups, and the colleges. I saw a spectacular “Angels In America” at Trinity back in the mid-1990s. I still remember the jolt when the angel crashed through the ceiling at the end of “Millennium Approaches”; I was expecting it, my companion wasn't; I was electrified, and he was completely paralyzed.
And that is a perfect example of something you simply cannot do, and should not even attempt to do, on a small stage.
Scale matters. Partner and I saw “Wicked” on the PPAC stage here in Providence some years ago, and it was pretty good. Then we saw it on Broadway, and Jesus Christ, it was gorgeous. In Providence, the Emerald City was a sparkly lighting effect; on Broadway, it was blinding.
So small theaters need something else. They need, in a word, to be original. I've seen “Comedy of Errors” done as burlesque, and “A Little Night Music” done with cardboard automobiles, and “Peer Gynt” done with rap numbers.
Long live the dinky little local theaters.
And why don't people do “The Skin of Our Teeth” more often?
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