If the coldest of hands conceal the warmest of hearts, than it is little wonder that playwright John Cariani found the most sizzling selection of love stories in the chilling climes of Maine.

When The Dio matches four stellar actors and a delicious meal of country-fried chicken and shrimp scampi, the recipe is a wonderful evening or afternoon of a theatrical experience that warms both the heart and the body.

“Almost, Maine” collects a series of vignettes that take place around the fictitious town of Almost in the state of Maine. Except it isn’t really a town. You have to be organized to be a town, and they’re still an unorganized territory.

It’s 9 p.m. and all around this territory people are falling in and out of love and trying to make sense of the world and how they relate to each other.

Director Steve DeBruyne divides up these 19 roles among his four actors to create an ensemble piece that is constantly moving and continually surprises and delights. The stories are sweet, sometimes melancholy, sometimes amusing and always heart-warming in some way. They tease with the surreal, the romantic, and the down-to-earth.

Ann Dilworth, Justin Dietzel, Vanessa Sawson and Matt Berdahl all create characters that are believable and likeable. There is no evil in Almost, though there are some cases of negligence.

While this type of play often showcases the ways that actors can create wildly different characters, what makes The Dio’s production particularly successful is the similarities the four find in each of the people. Yes, they all have different motivations and different characteristics, but they are all yearning for something similar. They’re all lifted up and wounded by love. They’re all searching for hope and wondering whether the broken can be fixed again.

DeBruyne and his cast are quite adept at finding ways to keep the energy levels intense, even in scenes that tempt a lesser-skilled actor to let things drop. The pauses have meaning and are not simply dead spaces. They’re filled with questions and connections.

Matthew Tomich’s snow-covered set pieces are mobile and let the set crew quickly create different homes and scenes with short transitions between stories. Norma and Rachel Polk provided the painting that lets the audience know that Maine was in the deep of winter. Tomich also created clever lighting with northern lights that spread out on the ceiling across the audience. The moving stars were captivating and helped the actors provide the enchantment of the setting, which was nearly a character of its own in the story.

Mairlee Dechart designed costumes that were complementary among characters, helping to distinguish them while still making changes between scenes quick and manageable. The only minor fault in the design was Rhonda’s scarf that was far too stylish and feminine for a character that was intended to be tomboyish and who rejected anything “girlish.”

“Almost, Maine” is enchanting in every way. The Dio handles this gem with great care and love, creating an all-around experience that is more than worth the price of admission.