Park Square Theatre has set an ambitious season for itself — 17 shows on two stages (the second space is scheduled to open in October).
So it makes sense to begin this marathon with a light workout, something that leaves audiences charmed and eager for more. "Sexy Laundry," an 80-minute romp through one couple's attempt to reignite the spark, fits this need perfectly.
The trope is familiar, yet playwright Michele Riml massages something new from the frustrations of middle age. "Sexy Laundry" is light and delicate but surprisingly substantial in its treatment of a subject that matters to quite a few baby boomers who are finding the long years of a committed relationship to be less a matter of enjoying romance and more a matter of tolerating someone who can drive you crazy.
In the bargain, Riml gets us to care about two people. Their happiness matters because they are us.
Director Mary Finnerty gently guides her actors, John Middleton and Charity Jones, into the absurd and deadpan humor of routine.
Middleton and Jones play Henry and Alice, who are 25 years into a marriage that is huffing and puffing. Alice has booked a night in a swanky, sleek hotel room (beautiful modernist work by Michael Hoover) to see if she and her husband can quicken their pulses. They bring along a copy of "Sex for Dummies" to see if the games (nicknaming your partner's private parts) and tricks (blindfolded groping) can break the ennui.
Alice and Henry come to realize that leather dresses, whips and fantasies are tricks that feel phony. Not even Mick Jagger on the sound system provides the fullness of salvation that this couple needs.
No, that redemption must come from within, and Riml suggests that happiness comes from our history together. Was there not genuine joy in those years of discovery? When we let those memories rise up and fill our consciousness, we find a soothing balm.
Middleton and Jones — married in real life — seem to be having a lot of fun tossing barbs at each other. Sensuous caresses turn into complaints about "feeling my fat." Middleton's Henry says that he's fine with having sex but that he doesn't want to talk about it. He recites his fantasy like a book report.
Jones' Alice jogs in place, recalling her humiliation at a fitness center when she looked at the beautiful bodies alongside her.
Finnerty keeps the mood light, wry and understated. She and her actors trust the humor, the jokes, the situations. They never push the material too hard.
Michael Kittel's light design and Katharine Horowitz's sound work are great finishing touches.
Park Square's season certainly will beef up, and not everything will be this easy. But for the moment, "Sexy Laundry" creates good will.
Graydon Royce • 612-673-7299
