PORTLAND — Portland Stage presents “Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods” by Tammy Ryan, with previews at 7:30 p.m. March 1, 2 and 3. The play opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, and runs through March 20. The theater is located at 25A Forest Ave.

Winner of the American Theatre Critics Association’s 2012 Francesca Primus Prize, “Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods” tells the story of Christine, a middle-aged, middle class, white woman who meets Gabriel, a former Sudanese “Lost Boy” working in the produce section of Whole Foods. Moved by his story of the trauma he survived as a child, she invites him to live with her and her teenage daughter. The play explores what can happen when we open up ourselves to helping another human being.

“Lost Boy Found in Whole Foods” shows the facets of people trying to make a difference. As Ryan states, “The characters find that the path is not easy. Love and helping others and opening your heart is not a simple thing. There are difficulties along the way, but it is a story told with humor. I hope that audiences will feel that they have gone on a journey too, the same journey as the main characters.”