Oh. My. God. People—you must, mustmustMUST go see The Clean House at Zach Scott Theater immediately. Whether you literally have some sort of OCD that prompts you into unstoppable cleaning sprees or are more of the metaphorical sort who's forever trying to tidy up this wicked, funny, messy thing called life, this show is for you. Smaranda Ciceu plays Mathilde, the hilariously sad twentysomething Brazilian housekeeper who hates to clean. This proves to be problematic for her power-achiever MD employer, Lane, played to perfection by Lauren Lane. On the other hand, it provides a thrill for Lane’s neatnik sister, Virginia (Barbara Chisolm) who lives to dust, scrub and rearrange. Tom Green who doubles as both the ghost of Mathilde’s father and as Charles, Lane’s nutty husband—also an MD— has got obsessions of his own. And Ana (Alicia Kaplan) also pulls double duty as the ghost of Mathilde’s mother and, among other things, Charles’ distracting (to put it mildly) patient. more ›

In When Something Wonderful Ends—a blend of autobiography, American history, and analytical rant about Middle East politics—Barbara Chisholm charms from start to finish, fully engaging the audience effortlessly. That's no mean feat, considering much of the subject matter is heavy fare, weaving together a convincing argument that the war in Iraq is all about oil. We attended the show with someone we consider conservative; he found the analytical nature of the piece compelling and convincing. See it to bask in Chisholm's sparkle and to check out Barbie's groovy gear, but take away a great night of thought-provoking theatre. more ›