SpeakEasy Stage will present the Boston-area premiere of the acclaimed romantic comedy, "Almost, Maine," from February 16 through March 10 at the Calderwood Pavilion at the Boston Center for the Arts.

Written by Presque Isle, Maine, native and Tony-nominated actor John Cariani, this charming comedy takes a look at the relationships of a group of men and women living in a small, isolated town in the northern-most part of the Pine Tree State.

Through a series of comic vignettes set on the same cold, clear Friday night, Cariani explores the mysteries of the heart by introducing the audience to a group of lovable eccentrics who, on this particular mid-winter's eve, are falling in and out of love at an alarming rate.

Developed in association with the Cape Cod Theatre Project, "Almost, Maine" had its world premiere at the Portland Stage Company in 2004 where it went on to become the most successful show in the theater's history.

The play transferred to off-Broadway last January where it was hailed as "the perfect date play."

SpeakEasy Producing Artistic Director Paul Daigneault will direct the production, with a cast set to include Barlow Adamson, Elaine Theodore, Kevin Kalinsky and Maureen Keiller. Ms. Keiller most recently appeared as the back-stabbing society matron Sylvia Fowler SpeakEasy's revival of "The Women."

"Almost, Maine" is the first play from Cariani, who is known for his work as an actor both on stage ("Fiddler on the Roof" revival, "Modern Orthodox," "Two Gentlemen of Verona") and on television (as forensic technician Beck on "Law & Order").

In a recent interview, Cariani admitted he started writing not only to have a creative outlet during the downtime as an actor, but because so many of the plays he was seeing were "New York-centric."

He has explained that the shows he was seeing were about cosmopolitan ideas and ideals rather than stories about people like the ones he grew up with -- rural people "who are just trying to get by -- people who live and work in wide-open spaces."

As he says, "I hope that my plays will make room for some people and some stories that don't have much of a place in contemporary dramatic literature. I hope that, by writing earnest and sincere plays about earnest and sincere people who get their breath taken away, who wonder about their place in the world, and who hope that audiences will, in turn, gasp, wonder and hope. Which is exactly what you do when you look up at the sky on a cold, clear winter night in northern Maine."

For information, call 617-933-8600 or visit www.BostonTheatreScene.com.

-- OnStage Boston