Trying to define love is almost impossible — to define the abstract serves only to confine the concept.

Because love has multiple meanings, and even those ideas are constantly evolving, perhaps it’s best to smile and nod when someone describes that which makes the world go ’round.

Audiences will vacillate between quietly crying, laughing out loud and sighing as the Poudre High School Theatre Department takes on the heartfelt and heady subject of love in its presentation of the romantic comedy “Almost, Maine” Feb. 24 through 26 in the school auditorium.

Love may forever defy definition, but love metaphors abound in this offbeat play featuring a series of scenes in which 19 characters fall in — and out — of love.

The show, like love, resists easy explanation.

The time is 9 p.m. on a cold, clear, cloudless Friday night under a starry winter sky made magical by the illumination of the northern lights. The place is the fictitious town of Almost, Maine, whose residents become captivated and changed by the mysterious aurora’s dancing lights.

“I chose this play because I fell in love with the script, which is rare for me on a first read,” said PHS director Amber Anderson. “It speaks such truth about times that everyone tends to go through in their 20s or 30s.”

The cast consists of six actors, two of whom — Savannah Bearden and Michael Cienfuegos-Baca — are Wellington area students.

“‘Almost, Maine’ is a challenge for actors and technical designers alike, and Poudre theater students take on challenges and run with them,” Anderson said. “Savannah is in her third year at Poudre, and I have seen her acting talent blossom in those years. As she pursues her dream of acting on many stages, I am grateful to have worked with her in different roles and anticipate a great senior year for her next year. Michael comes to us this year from Wellington Junior High, and what an addition! I was immediately drawn to his honesty on stage, and audiences will love the variety of characters he has created.”

A 17-year-old junior, Savannah is no stranger to stage or screen. In 2005, she appeared in The Fray’s breakout music video “Over My Head (Cable Car).” She listed her favorite performances to date as: “Tom Sawyer” with Debut Theatre Company, WJHS’s “Godspell” at the Lincoln Center, and two Poudre plays, “Seussical the Musical” and “Hello Dolly!”

“This one, though, is different. It’s real; to the point,” Savannah explained. “It’s not a single story but five-minute scenes. It’s honest; like listening in on the things people say but they would never admit to.”

Michael’s theatrical credits are “High School Musical” and “Bye Bye Birdie,” two musicals the 16-year-old sophomore performed under the direction of former WJHS music director Linda Anderson.

“I was extremely excited,” Michael said about learning he had earned the role in his first audition at Poudre. “I’m liking high school compared to junior high. Ms. A held our hands and told us exactly what to do. Mrs. Anderson wants to see how we interpret it and then she gives us input like, ‘You’re sitting the same way for all your characters.’”

Michael shifted to demonstrate by placing his chin in his hand, elbow on his knee.

“The rehearsal process has been different from other shows where the cast size is huge,” Savannah said. “Everyone watches; everyone contributes.”

Savannah and Michael said because “Almost, Maine” was written by an actor — John Cariani, perhaps best known as Julian Beck on “Law & Order” — and not a playwright, the show seems “more real, less theater.”

“It’s like we’re saying lines that sound real,” Savannah said.

“The metaphors are literal,” Michael added. “When the scene title says, ‘They fell,’ we literally fall, like 10 times each. Everything is literal: when a heart breaks, it really shatters.”

Witty metaphors and clever repartee aside, Savannah cautions attendees not to expect “Almost, Maine” to provide solutions to the “problem of love.”

“It leaves you hanging and wanting more,” she said and smiled coyly.

The cast, which includes seniors Scott Trout, Zach Eulberg and Cypress Staelin-Lefsky, and junior Jessica Lenczycki, has been rehearsing since early January, with each actor taking on at least three roles.

Savannah portrays Marvalyn, whom she described as someone in an emotionally abusive relationship; Villian, a flirty little waitress; and Rhonda, a tough girl who’s never been kissed.

“I’m immersed in this character (Rhonda),” she said. “I become my character so I’m really affected by it. I’m not butch at all! I didn’t think I’d be this uncomfortable; feel so exposed. It’s acting, but it’s so close to real, I wonder, ‘Will people think I’m like that?’”

A self-described “big brother and teddy bear not in a relationship,” Michael is finding his three parts equally challenging. The character Pete is scared of losing his girl; Lendall is a hopeless romantic; and Chad is a good ol’ boy.

“I have never been the ‘I love you’ kind of guy,” Michael admitted. “I’m a hard worker like Chad, who supervises a sawmill.”

Costuming is mostly winter clothes from home. The set is simple, consisting of a double-sided door wall and another freestanding wall with windows to depict a little cabin in the backwoods.

Savannah pointed out how the play’s title and town’s name allude to how Almost isn’t quite on the map.

Writer Cariani, a native of Presque Isle, Maine, knows the type: “It’s a place where there aren’t many people and there’s lots of sky…the play is mostly a tribute to that place — a place where there seems to me so much possibility because there’s time and space to daydream.”

Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students for the 7 p.m. shows. They are available online at www.showtix4U.com or in the PHS main hallway during lunch on show dates or just prior to the show. There is no reserve seating.

Mature in content, “Almost, Maine” promises to help people of all ages redefine how they view the mysteries of the human heart.