MHS Theatre Company (MTC) performs their annual spring play titled “Almost, Maine” tonight and tomorrow evening, which is the first in-person production of the school year.

The play is set in a town called Almost, Maine, and follows the characters through stories about new love, ending relationships and chance encounters. Each scene is stand-alone, meaning there isn’t a through story line, and follows a new story with different characters.

This is freshman Madison Schultz’s first production with the company. 

Schultz plays the character “Villian” in her scene titled “Sad and Glad.” Villian is a waitress at the Moose Patty diner and is a happy and bubbly character.

Schultz said she has been acting since she was in fifth grade. It is a field she wants to pursue when she is older, so she knew she wanted to get involved with theatre in high school. 

Her castmates, who are mostly upperclassmen, have been welcoming to her as a freshman, Schultz said. 

“I’m looking forward to developing new relationships, especially with incoming freshmen and sophomores since I have developed relationships with older kids,” Schultz said. 

Nicklaus Strum, freshman, plays a character named “Pete” in his scene title, “Prologue/Epilogue.” Strum said Pete is a boy who is socially awkward and always tries to impress people, but fails everytime.

Like Schultz, this is Strum’s first production as a part of MTC. 

“I love theatre so much, and I wanted to get involved in some way and join a new community of people,” Strum said. 

Strum said he hasn’t been on the stage in a year in a half due to the COVID-19 pandemic and is excited and confident to be back. 

Strum is very close with his scene partner Chloe Inman, junior. He said he has seen a lot of improvement between the two’s performances on stage. 

“When you can come together with somebody and act out a scene and have real emotion with that person, it is truly something special,” Strum said.

Rebecca Blinduaer, theatre director, said the play will have an audience, but it is only open to families of students in the play and other members of MTC. The maximum number of people in the theatre is 165, including actors, crew and audience. Blindauer is giving away free tickets to those who are eligible to attend.

There will be no streaming service or virtual format to watch the show because the publishing company doesn’t allow streaming rights for the play, Blindauer said.

Blindauer will have actors and actresses wear clear masks for the performances, and there will be as much social distancing as possible.

“I have loved that each scene is like a mini-play,” Blindauer said. “It has allowed us to focus on those short moments and has been really great during this difficult time.”