“The Clean House” (Remy Bummpo): A Must-Feel!

Tuesday, December 9, 2014 Permalink 0

Patrice_Egleston,_Annabel_Armour,_Charin_Alvarez,_and_Shawn_Douglass_(800x533)Remy Bumppo presents THE CLEAN HOUSE.

What I loved about this smartly-written show by Sarah Ruhl was the surprising contrasts.  There was drama and comedy, reality and fantasy, life and death, and love and real love.  Ruhl created familiar role pairings:  employer-maid, husband-wife, patient-doctor, sister-sister. And then she twisted them for unexpected relational woe and joy.  The story of the complicated entanglements gives off a natural glow.  It radiates a heartwarming simplicity in the characters‘ shifts to understand bewildering truths. In Ruhl’s illustration of life’s messiness, she cleans up! 

Director Ann Filmer impressively paces this with comedy perfection.  The show starts with an animated Alice da Cunha (Maltida) telling a three-part joke in Spanish. Without having any translation skills, the set-up is evident.  da Cunha is pretending to be a teacher quizzing her students.  Each of the three punchlines is an English answer.  I’m immediately intrigued by this unconventional opening.  Then, the spotlight shifts to an uptight Patrice Egleston (Lane) complaining about her maid’s lack of a cleaning drive.  Her monologue is followed by the hilariously quirky Annabel Armour (Virginia) describing her dust fetish.  We are already engaged in these three very different and likable women separately. So, it is easy to get sucked into their collective encounters.          

Filmer’s talented ensemble pull us into their stories and make us care.  In the first act, the soulful Charin Alvarez and doting Shawn Douglass are the whimsical couples in a daughter’s memory and a wife’s imagination.  In the second act, they actually drag their bashert dirt into Egleston’s home and make it real.  Each of the characters must choose how to handle the newest wrinkle in their life.  Should it be ironed out?  Or worn as a badge of courage?  Or shoved in a drawer and ignored?

I’m being deliberately vague on the relational dynamics within THE CLEAN HOUSE.  This show is meant to be experienced.  There is an understanding that you can’t be told, that you need to feel.  It’s like gardening.  We enjoy getting dirty in the process of nurturing things to grow.  And we also enjoy scrubbing our hands free of that dirt.  The  pleasure in either activity is heightened when experienced together. THE CLEAN HOUSE goes both ways.  This witty show is awash with emotional gleam and gunk.  Below the surface is both beauty and despair.  Experiencing the depth of the show will linger long after the dust settles.   This show is more a must-feel than a must-see!  Go!    

Running Time:  1 hour and 45 minutes includes an intermission

At Greenhouse Theatre, 2257 N. Lincoln

Written by Sarah Ruhl

Directed by Ann Filmer

Wednesdays at 7:30pm (December 17th and January 7th only)

Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30pm

Sundays at 2:30pm

Additional Matinees at 2:30pm:  December 26th, 27th and January 1st

Thru January 11th

Buy Tickets at www.remybumppo.org

Production photo by Johnny Knight

For more reviews and information on Chicago theatre, visit Theatre in Chicago.

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