The Forum

Florissant Valley’s Theatre of the Deaf’s production of “Almost, Maine” opened with great excitement and anticipation. Each scene in “Almost, Maine” takes place in a fictional town of Almost in Maine during the same 20 minutes of time. The nine scenes feature a different place and characters at that same time. Each scene is connected by the Northern Lights as well as mentions of characters from previous scenes.  

One could see that a lot of work went into this production. The video, the backstage microphones, the northern lights video effect, and all that snow. Not to mention there extra lighting effects that would be used in everyday life of a member of the Deaf community. For example, flashing lights when a doorbell rings. 

The voice actors had to voice act to match the signing actor’s emotions. That also involves a lot of work and practice. All the lights and sounds and video just added to the production’s success and uniqueness. 

At most productions at The Terry M. Fischer Theatre, the Friday night performance is accompanied by ASL interpreters for Deaf and Hard of Hearing, but with “Almost, Maine” every performance is for the Deaf/Hard of Hearing and Hearing. The voice cast is hidden until they are seen during curtain call. Even a few voicers are part of the signing cast.  

Florissant Valley’s Theatre of the Deaf productions are always interesting and worth attending even if you don’t know ASL. I look forward to the next one.