Sexy Laundry

By Michele Riml

Armed with a copy of “Sex for Dummies,” Alice and Henry check themselves into a trendy spa hotel with a mission: to jump-start their 25-year marriage. Time has taken its toll – so have kids, stress and gravity. In desperation, Alice has decided that they either make this final, major effort to save their marriage, or they get a divorce and go their separate ways. Can they embrace all the wild suggestions Alice keeps pulling from her handy-dandy marriage-saving manual? Does Alice have the courage to unearth her inner vixen? Is Henry prepared to see his fifty-plus wife, and mother of his children, dressed in black leather?

Alice and Henry share their erotic fantasies, exchange recriminations, and take turns confessing the details of their mid-life crises as the play flips from comedic to serious and back again. Henry and Alice’s touching and hilarious rediscovery of themselves and their inspiring efforts to restore their marriage will resonate with audiences of all ages. By turns poignant and laugh-out-loud funny, Sexy Laundry is a romantic comedy guaranteed to strike a deep and resounding chord.

Lossen Chambers, Cavan Cunningham; Directed by Diana Donnelly; Set by Amir Ofek; Costume by Alaia Hamer; Lighting by Kyla Gardiner; Sound by Nancy Tam

Production History

After nearly 20 years, Sexy Laundry continues to play sold out shows across North America and the world.

Since its first performances in 2004/5 at the Belfry Theatre (Victoria, BC) and the Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver, BC), Sexy Laundry has become one of Canada’s most produced plays of the 21st century.

It has been produced extensively across Canada by the first-class regional theatres such as the aforementioned Arts Club Theatre Company (Vancouver, BC) as well as Stage West (Calgary, AB), Globe Theatre (Regina, SK), Persephone Theatre (Saskatoon, SK), Prairie Theatre Exchange (Winnipeg, MB), Theatre Aquarius (Hamilton, ON), Grand Theatre (London, ON), Neptune Theatre (Halifax, NS) and the Confederation Centre (Charlottetown, PE).

In 2008, Sexy Laundry had its US premiere with a run at the Hayworth Theatre (Los Angeles, CA) which starred Frances Fisher as Alice and Paul Ben Victor as Henry. The play has since been produced throughout the US, including runs at Stages Rep (Houston, TX), Park Square Theater (St. Paul, MN), and multiple runs at WaterTower Theatre (Dallas, TX). In 2025, it debuts Cape May, New Jersey.

Internationally, Sexy Laundry is a celebrated hit with ongoing productions in Poland (where the premiere production continues to run in rep, nearing its 300th performance since 2012) the Czech Republic, Finland, Italy and Germany. It has also been produced in France, Lithuania, Slovenia, Mexico, and Iceland and has new productions in development in Mexico, Japan, and other countries.