SHELTER INN PLACE to Open at Theatre Row This Fall
Mike Roche, Martin Revere and Alyssa Simon lead the cast of Henry Feldman's hurricane-set family comedy.
Ego Actus Theatre Company will present "Shelter Inn Place," a warm-hearted ensemble comedy by Henry Feldman, at Theater #5 at Theater Row (410 West 42nd Street) from September 18 to October 4, 2026. The comedy is about a Gulf Coast innkeeper who, attempting to secure his bed and breakfast during a hurricane, finds himself trapped inside with the people who complicate his life the most. Joan Kane directs.
When it rains, it pours. Hurricane Claudia, a Category 3 monster, is heading toward the Pelican Bay Bed and Breakfast. Frank Bennett, its hapless, high-strung hotel manager, is preparing to both evacuate the place and sell it. An unexpected series of arrivals upends his carefully laid plans. His suicidal father comes to "help" but is quietly plotting to end his own life. A famous female TV psychologist, fleeing a professional and personal crisis, holes up in the room off the lobby, seeking solitude. Frank's flamboyant ex-wife seeks refuge after discovering that the muscular young man she left Frank for has abandoned her. Their twenty-year-old son is desperately in love and must convince his fiancee that he "comes from a good home" by reuniting his divorced parents. With a mandatory shelter-in-place order in effect, all these ragtag characters, including Frank himself, are forced to confront emotional storms they have been avoiding. A lifelong people-pleaser, Frank has spent years putting everyone else's needs before his own. Now he finds himself confronting a question many members of the "sandwich generation" eventually face: when does he get his own turn? "Shelter Inn Place" comically explores the process of starting over, accepting family members for who they are, and finding happiness even when there's nowhere else to go.
Playwright Henry Feldman drew inspiration from personal experience. During Hurricane Ike in 2008, he and his wife spent two weeks without power after the storm struck Houston. At the same time, he was caring for an aging father while his college-age twins demanded attention from afar. "All this got put in my mind's blender," Feldman says, "and out came this play." It received a developmental production at The Players Theater on MacDougal Street in January, 2026 with reviewers praising its blend of humor and heart. Opening Night Online called it "everything that makes Off-Broadway theater indispensable." HiDrama described it as "a fun situation comedy set in a hurricane." Splash Magazine praised its "well-placed puns, clever physical comedy" and "punchy performances." The production was then titled "Shelter in Place." After re-writes, an extra "n" has been added to the title, making it "Shelter Inn Place."
The cast features Mike Roche as Frank Bennett, the hotel keeper; Martin Revere as George Bennett, his father; Alyssa Simon as Heidi Murphy, the TV psychologist, Aaron Lamm as Sam Bennett, Frank's son; and Haley Zale as Mildred Bennett, Frank's wife.
Stage manager is Dana Robbins. Set designer is Evan Frank. Costume Designer is Cat Fisher. Lighting designer is Bruce A! Kraemer. Sound designer is Ian Wehrle. Prop designer is Max Kilsheimer. Dramaturg is Nadine Feldman. Casting director is Robin Carus, CSA.
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