CARIBOU – The way northern Maine theater-lovers see it, John Cariani has come full circle.

The Tony-nominated actor grew up in Presque Isle, discovered his love for theater and headed out on a path that, in the last decade, has taken him to the small screen, the silver screen and Broadway. But it’s his latest endeavor that, in a way, has brought him back home.

Cariani recently added the title of playwright to his resume with “Almost, Maine,” a romantic comedy about people in a small Maine town loosely based on Presque Isle. He has called it his “love letter” to the great people of northern Maine.

The play debuted off-Broadway, has been presented by the Portland Stage Company and the Penobscot Theatre Company in Bangor and most recently has been taken on the road by a traveling Penobscot Theatre troupe.

But the play made what locals call its homecoming on Friday night, when about 800 people packed into the Caribou Performing Arts Center for a one-night performance for central Aroostook County.

Though the playwright was unable to attend, watching the show on Cariani’s home turf held deep significance for many who either have watched his progress since grade school or who know about him now and are considering their own ventures into acting.

“It’s such an inspiration,” Ginny White, CPAC director, said Tuesday of the performance. “I had kids who volunteered to work the show – they’re all involved heavily in drama – and they were all ecstatic. When you love something as much as you love theater, it’s such an affirmation to see that somebody who comes from your little town, your little place in northern Maine has gone on to do wonderful things.”

“Almost, Maine” is a series of vignettes about love. White said that from what she saw, the central Aroostook audience was touched.

“You watched it and you just felt good about being from Aroostook County,” she said.

Lucy Adams has lived in Presque Isle for a long time – long enough that the former school nurse remembers Cariani as a fourth-grader – and she said Tuesday that seeing the play gave her a good feeling, too. Of course, she is one of the many locals who made sure they were at performances in Portland and even New York to support Cariani.

“We’re just really proud because he’s a local boy,” she said.

Adams said the Caribou performance was especially heartwarming because of how the young people seemed to respond to the play.

“Oh, they were cheering and yelling,” she said. “It was good to see.”

Caribou High School senior Kathleen Lewis was one of the young people in the audience that night. Lewis, who has been in the high school drama club for four years, admitted Tuesday that she wasn’t quite sure what to expect from the Presque Isle native’s play, but said that she walked away with some welcome insight.

“It gives us hope,” she said. “Maybe I could go out there and do something with acting. Coming from this area, you think maybe you won’t be able to do anything like that because your home is so small. But I don’t know, maybe you can.”