The Alley Theatre launches into spring with recent MacArthur "Genius"Â grant winner, playwright Sarah Ruhl's The Clean House, a sparkling and startling comedy-drama about life, death, class, and the power of jokes. Directed by David Cromer, The Clean House begins previews Friday, April 27, opens officially on Wednesday, May 2, and runs through Sunday, May 27.
The Clean House tells the story of Matilde, a Brazilian housekeeper, who can't manage to fake enthusiasm for her domestic duties - her employers' houses are as disorderly as their personal lives. While Matilde sets out in pursuit of the perfect joke, she ignores household dirt and instead becomes swept away by family affairs of the heart.
A life-affirming story that explores the humor and sadness of one household, The Clean House has been lauded for reminding audiences of the unexpected beauty in life. "The Clean House is not, by any means, a traditional boy-meets-girl story... This comedy is romantic, deeply so, but in the more arcane sense of the word: visionary, tinged with fantasy, extravagant in feeling, maybe a little nuts."-- New York Times
Recommended for mature audiences, adult situations, and language.
The Clean House is generously sponsored by the Alley Theatre's 2006-2007 season sponsor Continental Airlines, the official airline of the Alley Theatre and Season Producers Mr. and Mrs. Meredith J. Long.
When The Clean House opened off-Broadway at the Lincoln Theater Center in 2006 David Rooney of Variety wrote, "A rich work about big themes from a young playwright with an original and audacious voice. Just the fact that three leading characters here are vivid, complex women over 50 is unusual enough. This funny, tender play has screwy poetry and penetrating wisdom, oddball humor, deadpan soap-operatic arias, fantasy, spirituality and a soaring sense of romance. Most of all, it has tremendous compassion."Â
Speaking to Playbill.com, Sarah Ruhl described how she came up with the idea for The Clean House: "I was at a party of doctors, and a doctor walked into the room and said, "Oh, it's been such a hard month. My cleaning lady from Brazil decided not to clean my house because she's depressed. I took her to the hospital and had her medicated, but she still won't clean. And now I've been cleaning my house." It was basically the first monologue said by Lane in the play. I got to thinking about this woman and whether or not she was actually clinically depressed or not. Maybe she just didn't like cleaning. And the play just spun out from that little found bit of overheard conversation."Â
Playwright Sarah Ruhl plays include Eurydice, Passion Play; a cycle, Melancholy Play; Orlando and Late, A Cowboy Song. Recent projects include Eurydice at Yale Repertory and Passion Play at Arena Stage. The Clean House was supported in its earliest stages by the McCarter Theatre, Seattle Repertory Theatre, the Piven Theatre Workshop, the Lark and the Underwood Theater. Ruhl won the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize for The Clean House and was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship in 2006.
The cast of The Clean House includes Alley Theatre Company Actors Elizabeth Heflin as Lane; Annalee Jefferies as Virginia; and Paul Hope as A Man/Charles. Making their Alley debuts are Khanisha Foster as Matilde (Goodman Theatre's Crippled Sisters) and Karmin Murcelo as Ana (South Coast Repertory's Anna in the Tropics, Long Wharf Theatre's One Removed).
Director David Cromer returns to the Alley after having directed last season's Orson's Shadow. He also directed its world premiere at Steppenwolf Theatre, Williamstown Theatre Festival, Westport Country Playhouse and in its long-running off-Broadway engagement at the Barrow Street Theatre. At his home base in Chicago, Cromer has staged the world premiere of The Adding Machine; A Chamber Musical (Next Theatre); Come Back Little Sheba (Shattered Globe); The Cider House Rules and Suburban Motel (Famous Door), among others. His productions have won a total of 16 Joseph Jefferson Awards include Best Production and Best Director for The Cider House Rules, The Price and Angels in America.
The design team for The Clean House includes scenic designer Takeshi Kata (Alley's Subject to Fits and Orson's Shadow); costume designer Miguel Huidor (Alley's Orson's Shadow); lighting designer Kevin Rigdon (Alley Associate Director for Design, Alley's Subject to Fits, Orson's Shadow); Original Music Composition and Sound Design by Josh Schmidt (Alley debut, Next Theatre's The Adding Machine ). -- www.alleytheatre.org
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