Evelyn is showing those signs of growing old. The memory isn’t what it used to be, she gets confused at times and longs for a little more fun in her life.

Rory is a drifter, a 25-year-old man always on the go. He wasn’t getting along with his family, especially his father, so he ditched college and has been rambling ever since.

Evelyn and Rory meet on a plane flight to a Caribbean island where Evelyn owns a beachfront house. The two of them hit it off. That’s how it usually goes, young adults often find they get along with people who are two or more generations older. They don’t judge, they don’t presume, but they often pass along some well-earned wisdom.

This is the theme of Julie Marino’s play Welcome to Paradise, a comedy that celebrates a chance encounter. Ypsilanti's PTD Productions is presenting Marino’s play through May 17 at the Riverside Arts Center.

Rory helps Evelyn get from the airport to her small but choice house on the beach. And so begins a friendship that restores their troubled lives.

Co-directors Laura Bird and Janet Rich do a fine job balancing the underlying issues of old age and restless young age with the comedy and get strong performances from their cast.

Amy Griffith plays Evelyn. Evelyn has a sharp tongue but a sympathetic ear for the wandering young man who she invites into her vacation home. Griffith brings warmth to Evelyn’s firm but caring wisdom. As Evelyn grows closer to Rory, she becomes, for a while, more alive and relishes the freedom he represents. Griffith is vibrant, as an older woman trying to hang on to those younger days, some that she experienced and some that she missed until Rory.

Chandler Gimson plays Rory, a disheveled, quirky, and often hysterical young drifter. Rory doesn’t want Evelyn to get any wrong ideas or suspicion that he’s out to con her. Gimson does an especially good job playing Rory when he gets on a nervous rant about his concern about being a good guest who doesn’t want anyone to think he’d do anything to hurt Evelyn.

The play takes a sharp turn when Evelyn’s son, his unhappy wife, and his snarky college student daughter arrive unexpectedly. The family comes just in time to see Evelyn and Rory dancing to jazz and other things (as John Prine would say with a hint of an “illegal smile”). Son Greg is outraged, his wife is confused and his daughter thinks Rory’s cute.

Scott Stechschulte plays Greg, a loudmouth, frantic, and disruptive force. As Evelyn says, Greg is the least favorite of her three sons. Stechschulte has a strong voice and reacts as a man without a clue.

Wendy Ascione-Juska plays Greg’s wife Trish, who is quietly considering divorce. Trish is the family's level center.

Max Wray plays Sydney. In a time-honored truism, Sydney has more affection for her Granny than for her parents. She also has an eye for Rory. Wray has fun with the character, especially in the scenes where she tries to slowly seduce her Granny’s house guest but also finds someone to tell her troubles to.

In addition to being a co-director, Laura Bird also designed the set. It’s a good re-creation of a summer getaway.

Bird provides some perspective on Marino’s theme in her director’s note, “No one is merely a collection of the things they are no longer able to do and it is a disservice to think of them that way, Bette Davis said famously, ‘Old age ain’t no place for sissies’. It sure as hell ain’t. It sure as hell ain’t. It’s often a slow march through grief: grief for lost abilities, lost friends, lost dreams, Evelyn discovers it need not be only that.”

Hugh Gallagher has written theater and film reviews over a 40-year newspaper career and was most recently the managing editor of the Observer & Eccentric Newspapers in suburban Detroit.  

PTD Productions presents Julie Marino’s “Welcome to Paradise” from May 9-17 at the Riverside Arts Center, 76 North Huron Street, Ypsilanti. For tickets and more information, go to ptdproductions.com.