Playwright Michele Riml’s hilarious characters Henry and Alice Lane will be moving from the opulence of a luxury hotel to the stark setting of a campground in the Arts Club Theatre Company’s production of Henry and Alice: Into the Wild, at The ACT, Feb. 3.
From the Vancouver-based playwright’s 2004 hit Sexy Laundry, characters Henry and Alice go camping where they will have to examine their personal relationship while dealing with collapsing tents, uninvited guests and their own style of alfresco cuisine.
Starring Andrew Wheeler as Henry and Beatrice Zeilinger as Alice, the pair head out to the wilderness where they are joined by Alice’s free-spirited sister, played by Deborah Williams.
Each character has a different expectation for the vacation and when the vacation doesn’t go quite as planned, they are forced to confront truths about their lives.
Riml’s critically acclaimed play Sexy Laundry enjoyed praise for its productions across Canada and the United States and was also produced in South Africa, Iceland, Poland, New Zealand, England and Germany. It has also been translated into German and Spanish.
“In Into the Wild, Michele plays with our nostalgia for our childhood family vacations, including making S’mores, singing campfire songs and telling ghost stories, while unpacking a very adult story about remaking your future at 55,” said Arts Club Theatre Company artistic managing director Bill Millerd.
Other plays by Riml include Miss Teen, Under the Influence, Poster Boys, Souvenirs and On the edge.
Her plays for young audiences include RAGE, the winner of the 2005 Sydney Risk prize for Outstanding Original Play, The Skinny Lie, the Invisible Girl and Tree Boy.
Riml’s work has been nominated for more than 10 Jessie Richardson Awards, and in 2008 she was nominated for the prestigious Siminovitch Prize.
The Arts Club Theatre Company is the largest theatre company in western Canada and is now in its 49th season.
Henry and Alice: Into the Wild will be presented at The ACT at 7:30 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 3. Adult tickets are $42, seniors $36 and students $15.
• For more information go to http://www.theactmapleridge.org/Arts-Club-On-Tour#wild.