Be Our Guest, Be Our Guest

Put our service to the test...

I have been to see the MTC production of 'The Clean House' this weekend. The play was written by Sarah Ruhl, and this production is performed by Julia Blake, Daniela Farinacci, Wendy Hughes, Pip Miller and Deirdre Rubenstein.

The house is a very Clean House. The expanse of white carpet is dotted with white furniture and its emotionally reserved inhabitant, Lane, is also crisply outfitted in a white ensemble. (Do we see a pattern forming here?) In contrast, her talkative Brazillian live-in cleaner, Matilde, dresses in a serviceable black and although paid to clean the house is not happy doing so and is struggling to find within herself the jokes she feels are her destiny to share with the world. Matilde's joke-telling parents have, after a bizarre series of events, died and although she is trying to search out the perfect joke in their memory she is afraid that her life will end once it is found. Lane's sister, Virginia, loves to clean, lives to clean, so offers her services to Matilde - she will clean house while Matilde cheers herself up and can work on her jokes... Lane is married to a surgeon, Charles, who reveals that he has fallen in love with another woman, a flamboyant opposite to the highly restrained Lane. Charles' revelation and the introduction of his new girlfriend, Ana, who is also Brazillian, breaks open Lane's cool, white facade and starts in motion the events that will resolve some of the characters' internal issues and bring the play to its chaotic conclusion.

I do feel that I may have felt more involved with the play if I had understood Matilde's language. The play was spoken in English but some of Matilde's more lengthy jokes were told in her native tongue. I felt most of the actors inhabited their characters weill but I felt that Ana was possibly not comfortable in her role and was over-acting to compensate. Of course, this is only my impression, I mean no disrepect, and I saw one of the earlier performances so this may have been an "off night", who knows? It would be difficult to laugh convincingly at a joke you have heard many times before and to act out the last laugh of your life must be a great challenge.

The story was engaging, the use of the set to transport us in time and space was fabulous and gave the tale, at times, a mythical air. I enjoyed it very much and I don't envy the person who had to clean up after each performance.

Tie your napkin 'round your neck, cherie, and we'll provide the rest...