Almost, Maine Playwright John Cariani Gives Tutorial for Belfry Club Members

Belfry Club students will be performing the play, “Almost, Maine,” in a few weeks and had an amazing opportunity to speak with the playwright of the show, John Cariani. Students from all aspects of the show ranging from major parts to ensemble to stage crew asked Cariani questions about the show and its characters. It was a rare opportunity, and GA Belfry students took full advantage.

Cariani is a playwright and actor. He received a Tony Award nomination for portraying Motel the Tailor in “Fiddler on the Roof” and has been on numerous TV shows such as “Law & Order” and “Numbers.” But his first love is working on the stage. “I love live performances. I love hearing people telling stories. I love that in live theater you don’t get ‘do-overs;’ you just have to keep on going!”

The students enjoyed asking questions about motivation or true personalities of the role they are playing, as it is so unique to speak to the author and glean additional information. Farihah Kemp ’25 plays Glory in the scene, “From Her Heart,” and wanted to examine why Glory seems to have different emotions from page to page. Kemp said, “To me she feels quirky, then concerned, then scared. What emotions would you want us to tune into?” 

“Whatever one you tune into, honestly,” said Cariani. “Glory has gone through a lot. She’s kind of a mess and she’s just trying to make it OK. And she’s the kind of person that tries to make everyone else’s life OK instead of taking care of herself.”

Cariani was able to give a window into what it’s like to be a playwright and part of the theater scene. “I had a great job playing a part in a role for a long time—your contracts are a minimum of one year unless you’re someone famous—and I needed another creative outlet. So, I sat down and wrote. I wanted to write about the people and the place I grew up in, which is Northern Maine, a rural place that’s made up mostly of potato and broccoli farms and woods,” said Cariani. It was important to him to feature the types of people he grew up with that are not usually represented.

“Almost, Maine” has nine vignettes about falling in and out of love. It’s also one of the most-performed shows in high schools today. It makes you laugh, and you feel close to the characters in the play. The Belfry students also conversed with Cariani about how he envisioned the set should look, to which he replied, “It’s up to your own creativity!” GA’s new Upper School Drama Teacher Sean Gibbons mentioned to Cariani that tonight’s (last week) rehearsal is the first night they’re “off-book” (not using a script during rehearsal), and asked, “Do you have any advice?”

Cariani said, “Remember, you are already brave to be acting in front of people and know that it is inevitable that you will mess up. And that’s OK. Just stay in character. Stay in the emotion.”

Our Belfry students will be taking Cariani’s words of wisdom to the Arts Center stage on November 15 and 16 at 7pm. Tickets can be purchased here.