(Enlarge) Holly Pasciullo plays Lane and John Cramer is husband Charles in "The Clean House," continuing weekends though Dec. 6 at the Fells Point Corner Theatre. (Photo by Ken Stanek)

Sarah Ruhl's "The Clean House" will make you think twice before getting out the vacuum cleaner. Her metaphysical comedy includes two characters who don't like to clean the house and a third who is obsessive about picking up every bit of dust.

As you'll see in this nearly spotless production at Fells Point Corner Theatre, how they feel about the vacuum cleaner actually says a lot about how they feel about each other.

This young American playwright has a pretty clean record in terms of plays that are garnering critical attention around the country. Locally, Ruhl's "Eurydice" was just produced earlier this fall at Baltimore's Single Carrot Theatre.

Unlike "Eurydice," which immerses its contemporary characters in the source Greek myth, "The Clean House" more or less remains realistically grounded. Reality proves a rather slippery commodity, however.

This 2004 play flirts with abstraction. After all, the playbill states that the play takes place in "a metaphysical Connecticut." This point is brought out in Roy Steinman's beautifully realized set design, which consists of walls painted in cloudy sky-evocative shades of powder blue and white.

A few pieces of white-upholstered modernist furniture make for a minimalist living room for the woman who lives there, Lane (Holly Pasciullo), a white lab-coated doctor who fits right into the tastefully severe decor.

Even taking into account the fact that Lane is a busy medical professional, her disdain for cleaning her own house is such a stubbornly held attitude that it's rather disturbing.

"I did not go to medical school to clean my own house," she declares in a way that's meant to close off any further discussion of the subject.

Lane has hired a live-in Brazilian maid, Matilde (Jessica Behar), who ironically hates to clean and yet needs a place to live. Matilde's family history is best left for you to discover on your own, but it's interesting to watch the strained relationship between these two very different women.

Lane's physician husband is never around in the play's early scenes, so it's basically Lane and Matilde getting on each other's nerves.

Lane's older sister, Virginia (Dianne Hood), does not bear much physical resemblance to her, and Virginia's personality is just as distinct. Virginia loves to clean her own house and then come over to Lane's house, where Virginia secretly does the cleaning and Matilde duplicitously receives the unsuspecting Lane's frosty thanks. Virginia's husband is never seen, making for a nearly all-female play.

Lane's husband, Charles (John Cramer), eventually shows up. There's also another female character, Ana (Amy Jo Shapiro), whose identity is best discovered on your own. In any event, these two actors play several other supporting roles.

The domestic order suggested by the play's title is not just a matter of good housekeeping. Also on the domestic front, there are marital and ultimately extra-marital considerations in a household in which not all of the laundry is clean.

The play has its share of scenes that conventionally function as soap opera, but such realistic living room arguments generally give way to more heightened flashbacks and fantasies. Also, the play freely mixes standard dialogue with more abstracted monologues directed to the audience. And the slide-projected brief texts that introduce many scenes further emphasize the self-conscious storytelling.

This talented cast is able to negotiate all those changes in location and tone. The actors are intensely committed to this disturbingly funny material, with Holly Pasciullo especially good at looking like she'll either implode or explode when confronted with a maid who initially won't clean.

However, the actors also have a tendency to raise their voices and exaggerate their gestures beyond what's called for. If director Steve Goldklang can get them to stop overplaying, they'll realize that the play's emotional extremes come across without the exclamatory gestures.

"The Clean House" runs though Dec. 6 at Fells Point Corner Theatre, at 251 S. Ann St. in Fells Point. Performances are Thursday (Nov. 12 and Dec. 3 only), Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets are $17. Call 410-276-7837 or go to www.fpct.org.

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