The set, designed by Roy Steinman, consists of a spacious lower level for Charles and Lane’s Connecticut home and a rather more cramped balcony for Ana’s apartment; it looks great, though the balcony gets a bit crowded when occupied by more than one person. Bob Dover’s lights can shine a bit too bright for interior scenes but are otherwise appropriate. Choreographer Beth Weber contributes several nice moments as characters are remembered (or imagined) dancing in happier times.
At intervals throughout the play, “title cards” are projected on the back wall. They say things like “Ana and Charles fall completely in love” or “Lane calls Virginia”—in other words, things that are perfectly obvious from the staging. I assume these are instructions from the playwright. (Ruhl, for all her talents, is not immune to “cutesy,” artificial quirks such as these.) If instead they were imposed on the play by Goldklang and the design team, it would mark the one misguided impulse in an otherwise stellar production.
The Clean House is playing at Fell’s Point Corner Theatre, located at 251 South Ann Street in Baltimore, on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 8 PM, and Sundays at 2 PM, through December 6th. Tickets are $10-$17. For more information, visit http://fpct.org/ or call 410-276-7837.
