BWW Reviews: Ruhl's Pulitzer-Nominated Clean House

The Clean House
by Sarah Ruhl
directed by Stefan Kruck
Odyssey Theatre Ensemble
through July 3

Unusual and provocative best describe Sarah Ruhl's Pulitzer-Prize nominated The Clean House receiving its LA Premiere at the Odyssey. Under Stefan Kruck's consistently circular staging, the play elicits laughter through tears and is bound to be a hit with theatre lovers, especially with those who have a taste for the outrageous.

Ruhl as writer, much like the brilliant John Guare, mixes dialogue and actions that do not blend naturally, eliciting humor where it is least expected. Death and jokes are a strange combination that do not always work well side by side, but when Matilde (Elizabeth Liang), new Brazilian maid to American doctors Charles and Lane (Don Fischer and Colette Kilroy), would rather hunt for the funniest joke in the world in her quest to be a stand-up comedienne than clean their house, the zaniness begins and the audience is surprisingly hooked. Her mother literally died laughing, and she's afraid she'll die too, but that doesn't stop her quest. Even though she tells a joke in Portuguese, she uses body movements to more than effectively communicate the message, particularly the more obscene elements. You have to see it to appreciate it!

Lane is, to say the least, obsessively clean and cannot put up with Matilde's loose work ethic. And when Lane's sister Virginia (D.J. Harner*), also a neat freak, chips in to help Matilde behind Lane's back and Lane finds out, all hell breaks loose between the two sisters who already are at odds. A bigger conflict arises when Charles falls unexpectedly in love with a patient Ana (Denise Blasor). What ensues when Charles and Ana announce their intentions to Lane, Virginia and Matilde is a larger than life curiosity by anyone's moral standards. And what makes the entire situation more bizarre and uncanny is the gradual positive effect that it has on everyone's relationship. It's a life lesson in this fast-paced day and age to stop worrying about your house and to pay more attention to the human beings that live within it. Better to be caring and dirty than to be tidy and unforgiving. Who would have thought that The Odd Couple's Oscar was on the right track!?

The entire ensemble are a joy to watch. Liang is hilarious in her aloofness, Harner and Kilroy superbly intense, and Blasor beautifully humane. Fischer has his best moments with the broad physical comedy that accompanies his travels in Act II, the plot of which I refuse to give away. Go see the play!

The stage devices employed are intriguing. Projections on the wall to announce character behavior remind me of a foreign language film with subtitles. It puts the audience at an uncomfortable distance, but in this case, that's good; it makes sense. And slow motion body actions as with the two sisters facing off like wild beasts add not only to the offbeat comedy but to the overall eclectic nature of the piece. It's almost like an outsider's perspective on the tick.tock of American culture or the entrance to an unexplained world that is totally worth the exploration.

The set design by Frederica Nascimento with its emphasis on large and white - and with Ana's balcony secretly tucked away behind large white doors - adds a brilliant touch to the meaning of hospital-like sterility versus warmth.

This is a truly great and original evening of theatre in which Sarah Ruhl proves her unequalled ability to make us laugh, cry and care in extraordinary ways.

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