Park Square to Open its 43rd Season with a Comedy, HENRY AND ALICE: INTO THE WILD

Park Square Theatre opens its 43rd season with the American premiere of Michele Riml's uproarious Henry and Alice: Into the Wild on the Andy Boss Thrust Stage. Following Park Square's 2014 hit Sexy Laundry, this new play revisits the raucous lovers as they face sudden uncertainty on the brink of retirement. Staged by Mary M. Finnerty, who helmed Riml's first installment, the comedy is a touching exploration of what happens when you can't always get what you want but find sometimes you get what you need.

Riml hasn't decided whether Into the Wild is a sequel or Sexy Laundry a prequel. Finnerty calls the new version "a second date with Henry and Alice as they tackle their midlife crisis in the great outdoors, among bears, pesky mosquitos and an even peskier relative."

Henry and Alice: Into the Wild is a riotous follow-up to the smash hit Sexy Laundry, and our favorite married couple is back in another laugh-a-minute comedy. When Henry loses his job, he and Alice are forced to reconsider their dreams for a comfortable retirement. In an attempt to make the sparks fly again (and keep costs down), they forgo their usual summer cottage for a humble campsite and a copy of Camping for Dummies. John Middleton* returns to Park Square to reprise his role as Henry, this time joined by another Park Square regular, Carolyn Pool,* as his wife Alice. Melanie Wehrmacher rounds out the cast as an interloping family member.

Drawing from her own experiences in marriage (and on a disastrous camping trip), Michele Riml has revisited the married duo that has made her one of Canada's most critically acclaimed playwrights. Equally renowned for her plays for young adults, including works on bullying, eating disorders, and school shootings, Riml approaches her adult comedies with a similar degree of seriousness. Comic writing is not about gags and shtick; "It's about what makes people," Riml said in a 2013 interview. "It isn't that you have to be funny. It's that you have to be truthful."

The production team for Alice and Henry: Into the Wild includes Jake Davies (Sound Designer), Rebecca Karstad (Costume Designer), Michael P. Kittel (Lighting Designer), and Christopher Mayer (Scenic Designer).

Henry and Alice: Into the Wild Performance Schedule: Previews begin Friday, September 15, and continue through Thursday, September 21. September 22 is Opening Night, and the run continues through October 22. Show times are 7:30 p.m. except for Saturday and Sunday matinees, which begin at 2 p.m. All performances are in the company's Andy Boss Thrust Stage in Saint Paul's historic Hamm Building, 408 St. Peter Street.

Ticket prices: Previews: $25, $27 and $37. Regular Run: $25, $40 and $60. Discounts are available for seniors, college students, those under age 30, and groups. Tickets are on sale at the Park Square ticket office, 20 W. Seventh Place, or by phone: 651.291.7005, (12 noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Friday), or online at www.parksquaretheatre.org.

*Member, Actors Association