Shows

The Clean House is the Royal & Derngate's first in-house production of 2008. It's a play by Sarah Ruhl starring the well-known actress Patricia Hodge, (Rumpole of the Bailey and Jemima Shore Investigates).

The cast also includes Natalia Tena (Nymphadora Tonks in the Harry Potter film The Order of the Phoenix) and veteran actress Eleanor Bron (who has appeared in films such as The Beatles' Help and TV shows including Fat Friends and Absolutely Fabulous.

Patricia Hodge plays Lane, a woman who has everything - a successful surgeon for a husband and her own busy career as a doctor. All she wants is a clean house. 

Perfect joke

Unfortunately for Lane, Matilde (Natalia Tena), her young Brazilian cleaner, hates to clean, preferring instead to dream up the perfect joke.

While Lane's sister Virginia strikes up an unlikely alliance with Matilde, Lane's husband Charles becomes enchanted by one of his patients, the free-spirited Ana (Eleanor Bron) who casts a surreal spell over the household.

The Clean House is at the Royal Theatre for two weeks before going on tour.