By Aya Hashiguchi Clark
Everyone loves a clean house. Who among us does not envy the home with pristine countertops, shining floors and crisply folded (and April fresh) laundry...with no dust, grease spots or pet hair in sight?
I have.

You see, as a beleaguered housewife and mother, I have bravely fought the battle of Clutter Hill. Sadly, however, I occasionally wave the white flag of surrender. So, as the Burien Little Theatre's newest show, "The Clean House" opened this past weekend, the housework warrior within me smiled and said, "Amen, Sister."

This delightful comedy thrusts us straight into the trenches of the Dust Wars with the introduction of three incredible women and what they will do (or not do) in order to achieve that clean house.
We meet Lane (Geni Hawkins), a workaholic physician who expects a perfectly clean home, and has hired a live-in maid in order to get that perfectly clean home. This gives her a sense of control and success. As she shares with us at the top of the show, "I didn't go to medical school so I could clean my own house."
Her sister Virginia (Brynne Garman) also loves a clean home, but is willing to do all the work herself. So willing, in fact, that her entire life is consumed by cleaning. Her life is all about the clean house. This, apparently, makes her happy.

Matilde (Luciana McCadden) has newly arrived from Brazil and is hired by Lane to clean her home. Only Matilde doesn't like to clean. It makes her sad. Her life is not about clean houses. It is about creating the perfect joke. That makes her laugh, and makes her not as sad.

But, what happens when a maid who doesn't want to clean houses meets a sister-to-her-boss who does? A sisterhood is born. A clean house is achieved.

But at what cost?

There, dear readers, is the crux of the comedy, where the comic complications and re-arranging of relationships begin.
Oh yes, and let's not forget Lane's husband Charles (Russ Kay), a surgeon who falls in love with his beautiful Latina patient Ana (Stela Diaz). He falls so deeply in love that it creates more than just a comic complication. It threatens Lane's neat, tidy life...and thus her neat, tidy house.

"The Clean House" is performed by a capable cast who tells this odd story with just the right touch of "oddness." Director Maggie Larrick keeps the action jumping and doesn't let her cast resort to over-acting or cheap comic shtick. The tragi-comedy speaks for itself, and is engaging and entertaining.

BLT's cast includes two wonderful Latina actresses, Luciana McCadden (a Brazilian national) and Maristela Diaz. While some of their dialogue is performed in Portuguese, there is no need for the audience to understand that language. It is just another part of the beauty of the story.

As a cultural bonus during the run of this show, BLT has partnered with eSe Teatro and Latinos for Community Transformation to present a staged reading of Passport, a dramatic piece by Venezuelan playwright Gustavo Ott.

On Saturday, March 5 at 2 pm, "Passport" will be performed bilingually (Spanish/English) on the BLT stage and tells the story of loss of one's identity and the subsequent misunderstandings nascent between people who do not share the same language. Admission is $5.00.

In the meantime, Sarah Ruhl's "The Clean House" will perform Friday and Saturdays, at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through March 6. Call BLT at 206-242-5180 or log onto www.burienlittletheatre.org to make reservations and purchase tickets. Housecleaning will never be the same again.