Almost, Maine

The first scene of Act One opens with a woman (who will reveal her name to be Glory) standing, holding a paper bag, staring up at the sky in a repairman named East’s yard. East, in pajamas and an overcoat, comes out to see what she’s doing there. Glory reveals that she’s from another part of the country and is there to see the Northern Lights. Her travel brochure said the people of Maine would be okay with her camping out in their yard. East, taken aback, begins to object, but Glory is so insistent and desperate that East gives in. Glory embraces him, during the course of which East ends up with the paper bag, until Glory notices and hastily grabs it back.

As they talk about the property, the town, and the Northern Lights, East is “inexplicably drawn to her” and kisses her, “And now we have two stunned people” (20). East, who during the kiss has again taken possession of the bag, tells her, “I think I love you” (21), and Glory tells him her husband has just died and she is here to say goodbye, believing the Northern Lights to be “the torches that the recently departed carry with them” (21). East apologizes and manages to win her over againand explains the origin of his name (a mix-up on his birth certificate swapping town and first name). Glory realizes her paper bag is missing and, pointing to it in East’s hands, cries, “My heart!” (22). East again returns it to her. She explains that she carries her heart in the bag because it was broken by her late husband, Wes, when he left her for someone else. East asks why she’s paying her respects to a man who did that, and she tells him she believes she killed him: after he asked to come back, she refused, and he ran out and was run down by an ambulance. East kisses her again, Glory pulls back, and they exchange the bag again. East then asks to keep her broken heart, because he can fix it, as he’s a repairman. Just then the northern lights begin, Glory bids Wes farewell, and Glory and East move toward the house together.

Jimmy sits “alone at a table in a back corner of Almost’s local hangout, the Moose Paddy,” when he sees Sandrine and calls to her. Sandrine turns and they share an awkward—“awful, actually”—exchange in which neither quite knows what to say, asking how the other is doing and repeating, “That’s great!” and “Yeah!” several times (26). Eventually, Jimmy says, “I haven’t seen you since the night before that morning when I woke up and you were just gone” (27). A waitress interrupts Sandrine’s reply, asking them if they want another round. Jimmy wants Sandrine to stay and sit, but she says they don’t need anything and the waitress leaves. Sandrine says she is at the Moose Paddy with “the girls” and she should get back to them, but she finally gives in and sits (27). Jimmy tells her about his dad’s business, how he’s running it and works long hours because he’s “all alone this year,” and tells her his parents and siblings all moved away, and that his pet fish died (28). Jimmy says she should come over sometime, and once again Sandrine’s reply (“Oh, Jimmy—”) is interrupted by the waitress, who says they have a special going: “Free drink if you’re sad” (29).

When they’re alone again, Sandrine tells Jimmy “I’ve got a guy,” and then, finally, that she’s getting married (29). Jimmy is hurt and says that she had told him she did not want to get married, and then says that he guesses it must have just been with him. He asks who the groom is, and when she tells him it’s a ranger named Martin Laferriere, Jimmy seems honestly impressed, repeatedly calling him “legendary” (30). Jimmy then begins to shout for the waitress to bring celebratory drinks, making Sandrine uncomfortable, and when he raises his arm, she sees a tattoo revealed and asks what it is. He tries to deflect, again calling for the waitress, but Sandrine persists. Finally, she reads that it says, “Villian” (31). He explains it was supposed to say “villain,” but either he or the artist misspelled it, and he got it because, “drivin’ a girl like [Sandrine] away […] It’s villainy!” (31). They have another awkward exchange and Sandrine exits. The waitress reappears, sees Sandrine has gone, and reminds Jimmy drinks are free for sad people, “and you’re looking pretty sad” (32). Jimmy declines, and as she leaves the waitress reveals her name is Villian. Jimmy calls her back, says he is not sad, but would like another beer, saying, “I’m glad you found me” (33). The scene ends with Villian repeating his words and saying, “that’s adorable” (33).

This scene takes place in the laundry room of “Ma Dudley’s Boarding House,” where Marvalyn is finishing up with the ironing board and Steve is watching from a bench (33). Marvalyn accidentally burns herself on the iron and cries out, and Steve jots down “iron” in a notebook marked “THINGS THAT CAN HURT YOU” (33). Then, unaware of Steve’s presence, Marvalyn accidentally “wallops [Steve] in the head with the ironing board,” knocking him to the ground (33). She apologizes profusely, and he tells her it’s alright because he can’t feel pain. She doesn’t believe him, and he doesn’t believe that an ironing board can cause pain, since it is not in his notebook, something he’s working on with the help of his brother Paul, and to illustrate this, he wallops her in the head, causing her to cry out. He apologizes and adds it to his notebook, then takes out a second notebook, marked “THINGS TO BE AFRAID OF,” and asks if he should add ironing boards to this list as well. Marvalyn tells Steve no, even though ironing boards can hurt, they are not something to fear. Steve replies, “this is getting very complicated […] this business of learning what hurts [and] what to be afraid of” (35).

In order to prove he doesn’t feel pain, Steve whacks himself over the head with the notebook and invites Marvalyn to give it a go. She refuses, and he tells her most people do because he scares them, and he’s added himself to the AFRAID OF notebook, at which point she changes her mind and hits him. He seems gratified, but she worries she has hurt him. Steve asks if there is any blood or discoloration, and when she says no, concludes he is fine. Marvalyn says there are kinds of hurt that don’t leave marks, but “they all hurt” (37). Marvalyn says she loves her boyfriend, Eric, very much, and Steve responds that he hears Marvalyn and Eric fighting a lot. Marvalyn changes the subject, asking about what it is like to not feel pain, and Steve mentions he has to memorize things to fear, like “pretty girls” whom his brother has told him cause pain (38). During this conversation, Marvalyn kisses Steve, then asks if he’s alright. Steve notes that people with boyfriends don’t usually kiss strangers. Marvalyn, attempts to leave, hinting that Eric is jealous and controlling. As she turns to go, she again strikes Steve with the ironing board, but this time he cries out. Both of them take a minute to realize what just happened—Steve has apparently felt pain. The scene ends on this moment of uncertainty, and the line, “who knows what’s next?” (40).

The scene opens with Gayle banging on the front door of a house, shouting for Lendall, who has apparently been asleep. He answers the door, and Gayle tells him, “All the love I gave to you? I want it back” (41). Lendall is confused and asks her what she means and why she is doing this. Gayle tells him, “We’re done. I’ve decided,” and says she’s brought the love he gave her and would like to exchange it for the love she has given him (41). Lendall still doesn’t quite understand, and Gayle, getting frustrated, goes to the car to get the love Lendall gave her in order to force him to take it back. She returns with large bags full of something light, exits again, and returns several more times until there is “an ENORMOUS pile of love in Lendall’s living room” (42). Lendall is astounded and has no idea what to do with it all. Gayle again asks him to get her love, and he finally concedes, returning with “a little red pouch” (42). Gayle is disappointed at the size, but Lendall says it is all he could find. Lendall again asks why Gayle is breaking up with him. She tells him that when she had asked if Lendall thought they would ever get married, he had gotten quiet and not answered, and her friends had told her that was all she needed to know, that it meant that Lendall did not really love her. When Lendall objects, Gayle interrupts him saying, “I’ve tried to make you love me, by giving you every little bit of love I had,” and that she needs her love back to take it with her, because she needs to “get away from things” (43). Here, she looks at the vast contrast in size between the love each has given the other, asking, “is that really all the love I gave you?” then denying it, saying she knows she gave more and asking what the little red pouch is (44). “It’s a ring,” Lendall says (44), and explains that her love had been piling up for the eleven years they’d been together so that he didn’t know what to do with it all, and his father said he should get a ring, that all the love would fit in there, “and he was right” (45). Gayle asks to keep both the ring and Lendall’s love, and the scene, and Act One, ends with apologies and an embrace, “two small people in love—and a little pain” (45).