Text taken from Contributors.ro / author: Mircea Morariu

Under the title of a famous American film starring Jane Seymour, Christopher Plummer and Christopher Reeve, a film that miraculously arrived on Romanian screens in the suffocating, practically hopeless 1980s, the Theatre Queen Mary from Oradea offered its spectators the opportunity to see a performance of the play Almost, Maine of John Cariani.

I will not attempt to explain the reason for the change of title in the following. I will only note that the stories in the 8 modules of the show take place in an indefinite time, but the place where they are consumed is specified as clearly as possible. That is, Maine, a rather bizarre locality, with a society and social life that are not exactly organized, located where the map is pinned.

But more importantly, the play, written in 2002 and premiered in 2006, has been performed in Romania many times. Either with the English title (Almost, Maine), or with it in Romanian, but with small, unimportant variations. That is, either Close to you, times Close to you, still. The final adverb in the second version emphasizes the human and sentimental condition of most of the characters. That is, the fact that in Almost, Maine we see a succession of people who aspire to or have gone through the condition of a couple. People who live not only at the end of the world, but also in a sentimental uncertainty. In the interim or in the interval, People who have either lost hope and love, or are on the verge of breaking up, or are searching for themselves, desperately searching for their halves. Either they reevaluate their loves, or try to recover not only time, but also missed chances and lost feelings. Or they even receive the right to a second try or the gift of the beginning.

The first translator of the play into Romanian Almost, Maine was Cristi Juncu. Incidentally, the same Cristi Juncu was also the first director to stage that play at the Romanian National Theatre. Anton Pann from Râmnicu Vâlcea. A national premiere that, unfortunately, I did not see. Instead, I saw three other versions. The intensely metaphorized one, with many visual effects and abundant videomapping, directed by Antonella Cornici at the Classic Theater John Slavici from Arad, the one with slightly more realistic settings staged by Vlad Cristache at the Youth Theatre in Piatra Neamț, and the one with a completely remarkable set design (Bogdan Spătaru) and good acting performances from the Romanian Section of the Northern Theatre in Satu Mare. A show that marked a promising directorial debut for actor Theo Marton.

Andi Gherghe, director of the version at the Theatre Queen Mary from Oradea, felt the need for another translation. Which he himself did together with Adi Iclenzán. If in the Arad performance, Antonella Cornici called on the services and help of a storyteller, remarkably played by Zoltan Lovas, Andi Gherghe opted for a intro whose writing I understand was undertaken by the Oradea actor David Constantinescu. However, this whole story resembles a failed act because David Constantinescu has to speak the part in question in the moments when the spectators are struggling with the obscurity, and with dangers of all kinds, with the hope of avoiding any possible bodily harm at any time due to the poor architecture that, unfortunately, the Hall suffered Transylvania. Unfulfilled foundation, lame to many, exaggeratedly praised Bologna erasDavid Constantinescu, equipped with a flashlight, will inspect the space once or twice more, that is, the quasi-empty stage (scenography; Oana Cernea, lighting design: Cristian Niculescu), and at the end he will find his partner - Carina Bunea - thus ensuring a happy ending to the show. Until then, East (Alin Stanciu) will fall in love and, probably, will mend the broken heart of Glory (Georgia Căprărin), who has come to Maine to pay her last respects to her husband, whose death she blames herself for. Sandrine (Mihaela Gherdan), Jimmy (Șerban Borda) and Raina (Anca Sigmirean) will be the protagonists of some events that took place during a party given by the former before becoming a bride. Gayle (Adela Lazăr) and Lendall (Pavel Sîrghi) will return and recover their love. Randy (Sebastian Lupu) and Chad (Alexandru Rusu) will be the protagonists of a sad and Pictures, Marci (Corina Cernea) and Phil (Sorin Ionescu) will celebrate their wedding anniversary by arguing, Hope (Denisa Irina Vlad) and Dan (George Dometi) will experience the lost illusions of a reunion that will prove impossible, and Rhonda (Ioana Dragoș Gajdó) helped by Dave (Eugen Neag) will discover the beauty of love. It is played everywhere. On the stage, in the aisles between the rows, on the sides upstairs. So the actors also struggle with all kinds of flaws in the hall.  

Andi Gherghe, originally a professional actor, relies heavily on working with performers. He doesn't get too caught up in sleight of hand, he believes that the story is important. Or, more accurately, the stories that should be told clearly, lucidly, with great sensitivity. It's not for nothing that in Somewhere, sometime it talks about love. Love turned on all sides. One not necessarily with a twist, but almost always a little different because the place where the respective love stories are consumed is not exactly the same as the others. The actors are good, they do their duty with gusto. So I will not make major reproaches to them. Something more uninspired are the costumes which sometimes seemed to me to be a little too light. A little too summery.

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