The Clean House
A mischievously comic look at love, laughter and the secrets we sweep under the rug.
 THE CLEAN HOUSE is a mischievously comic look at love, laughter and the secrets we sweep under the rug. This contemporary comedy is written by Sarah Ruhl, one of the brightest new playwriting talents on the American stage. THE CLEAN HOUSE is making its Southwest premiere after acclaimed productions off-Broadway and around the country. The New York Times called it, “One of the finest and funniest new plays you’re likely to see this season… a play that keeps revealing surprising insights, whimsical images and layers of rich feeling as it goes along.”
THE CLEAN HOUSE plays in Phoenix at the Herberger Theater Center from May 1 through May 18.
 |
Sweet Rewards members, enter for a chance to win a pair of tickets to The Clean House for you and a friend. Click here to enter. Not a member? Join here! |
The story centers around Matilde, the child of the two funniest people in Brazil. She has gotten a job as a cleaning woman for an American doctor with no sense of humor – which doesn’t really matter since all of her jokes are in Portuguese anyway. And even though she’s a complete failure at dusting, ironing and vacuuming, she is nevertheless a catalyst for cleaning up the lives of the people around her. The Clean House was inspired by a real-life incident in which the playwright overheard a doctor at a cocktail party complaining about her cleaning woman and lamenting that “I didn’t go to medical school so I could clean my own house.” THE CLEAN HOUSE contains mature themes and language.
Director Jon Jory speaks with admiration of the playwright, noting that “Sarah Ruhl has, by general acclamation, been called the most important young playwright to appear in America in the last ten years.” In reflecting on her eclectic voice, Jory says, “THE CLEAN HOUSE is a comedy; it’s a tragedy; it’s got wonderful language; it has terrific wisdom, I think; it has great acting parts. It’s very theatrical –Sarah writes for the theatre. What Sarah does in her script is something we couldn’t do in film; it’s only something that can be done in the theatre. I think that people will be struck by it.”
Show and ticket information:
Tickets range from $30-$63 depending on date and section choice and are available at arizonatheatre.org or by calling the box office at (602) 256-6995.
Discounts are available for students, seniors and active military on specific performance days. Half-price rush tickets are available for balcony seating for all performances one hour prior to curtain at the box office (subject to availability).
Arizona Theatre Company (ATC) offers a "Pay What You Can" performance for THE CLEAN HOUSE on May 4 at 7 PM. Balcony seats for this performance are available for a suggested $10 donation. (Seating is first-come, first served and is not guaranteed. Cash only, please. Two tickets per person maximum.) For discounts on groups of eight or more, call (602) 256-6995.
ATC offers an audio-described performance for patrons who have low vision or blindness on May 7 at 7:30 PM and May 8 at 2 PM. Interested patrons may request a tactile tour one hour prior to curtain. Braille and large-print playbills are available upon request from the house manager.
An American Sign Language-interpreted performance is offered on May 17 at 4 PM. Patrons who have deafness or hearing impairment will receive a biography of the interpreters, a description of the play and name signs of each character.
An open-captioned performance is offered on May 11 at 7 PM. As the play progresses, those in open-captioned seating will be able to read the play’s dialogue in large green letters on an LED. The service is for patrons with mild to severe hearing loss who may not be ASL-literate.
Tickets for all performances are available through the ATC box office at (602) 256-6995 or online at arizonatheatre.org. TTY access for the box office is available via Arizona Relay at (800) 367-8939 (TTY/ASCII).
|
