Ego Actus Theatre Company invites you to review a raucous family comedy, “Shelter Inn Place” by Henry Feldman, running OB at Theatre Row (Theatre 5), 410 W. 42nd Street, September 18 to October 4. As a powerful hurricane bears down on a coastal bed-and-breakfast, a harried innkeeper finds himself trapped with his suicidal father, his lovestruck son, his ex-wife, and a celebrity TV therapist, forcing everyone to confront emotional storms they have been avoiding. Joan Kane, Artistic Director of Ego Actus Theatre Company, directs. Performances are Tue-Sat at 8:00 PM and Sun at 3:00 PM.
Running time is 90 minutes
Synopsis
In this play, 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 fiancée that he “comes from a good home” by reuniting his divorced parents. “Shelter Inn Place” comically explores starting over, accepting family members for who they are, and finding happiness even when there’s nowhere else to go.
From Personal Experience
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. That production was titled “Shelter in Place.” After rewrites, an extra “n” has been added to the title, making it “Shelter Inn Place.”
Cast
The cast is Mike Roche as the hotel keeper; Martin Revere as his father; Alyssa Simon as a TV psychologist; Aaron Lamm as Frank’s son; and Haley Zale as his wife.
Author
Author Henry Feldman is an actor-turned-playwright who spent 40 years in Houston and now splits his time between Cold Spring, NY, and NYC. He studied acting and directing at the University of Houston after getting his engineering degree from Rice University. So far, his plays are all comedies, and two address climate change. These are “Sea Level Rise: A Dystopian Comedy,” produced at the Broadway Bound Theater Festival in New York City in July 2019, and “Global Warming: A Comedy,” which was workshopped in 2019 in Port Townsend, Washington. Another play, “The Pickle Jar,” is a boy-meets-girl romantic comedy.
Director
Director Joan Kane is the founding Artistic Director of Ego Actus (http://egoactus.com/). Her directing credits include “Sycorax, Cyber Queen of Qamara” by Fengar Gael at HERE, “Play Nice!” by Robin Rice at 59E59 Theaters, “I Know What Boys Want” by Penny Jackson on Theatre Row, four plays by Toby Armour at Theater for the New City, and several productions in Europe. She was awarded Best Director in the 2016 United Solo Festival and was named to the Indie Theatre Hall of Fame by nytheatre.com. She is a member of SDC, DG, NYWITF, and LPTW. (www.JoanKane.us)
Joan Kane founded production Company Ego Actus in 2009 with Bruce A! Kraemer. Its Off-Broadway productions include “Play Nice!” at 59E59 Theaters, “I Know What Boys Want” at Theatre Row, and “Sycorax, Cyber Queen of Qamara” at HERE. The company has produced 35 festival shows in 15 different festivals, including the Fringe of Edinburgh, New York, Prague, Capitol, Ottawa, and Edmonton. It has also produced at the United Solo Festival at Theatre Row and FringeArts in Philadelphia. Its shows have won 21 awards.
Shelter Inn Place at Theatre Row
Theatre Row (Theatre 5), 410 W. 42nd Street, September 18 to October 4