REVIEW: Clean! The Musical

Clean! The Musical was seen for review at The Cockpit Theatre in London on November 24th 2021.

Clean! The Musical presents overlapping stories of several women of different ages working in a launderette in the 1880s, a smallpox outbreak in the 1950s, 1960s and today. It is through these intertwining narratives that we are given access to different slices of time periods and windows into the lives of individuals. These all relate to one another to allow us to see how, while women have been oppressed, and are still oppressed today, they will fight back and they will prevail.

The musical contains thirteen songs, all written by Simon Scardanelli. Scardinelli clearly has had a good chance to understand the aims of each song before writing each one, coordinating the feel and direction of each accordingly. There are a variety of moods here, from jubilant to morose, and many are justifiably very angry. Lyrics are by Chittenden and go hand-in-hand with Scardinelli’s modern, heartfelt melodies, creating a seamless symbiosis of words and music.

These songs are very proficiently performed by the cast, particularly ‘Beside Me’, a solo by Amelia Armande as character Dot when tragedy strikes her and her launderette. The genuine pathos of this moving performance brought tears to not only my eyes, but also many of the audience. This song was necessary and immediate, but also offset beautifully by the angry, violent action of ‘The Difference’, where the refrain “RATTLE THE FENCE!” is repeated in chorus by the entire cast as one being. As they mime the rattling actions and punch the air, shouted out into their surrounds, the injustice that women in the 1880s and still now are subjected to, is palpable. It’s impossible not to get angry with and for them at these key points.

Another musical highlight is ‘Go Well’, performed by Judy Bignell as Dr Helen. Dr Helen is a character based on a real person of this name in 1900’s Brighton. In this song, the character faces personal tragedy but turns it into strength. This character ties well into one of the many modern themes cleverly running through a play spanning so many decades. Dr Helen is presented as a progenitor for modern mental health practice, a clear reference to the underappreciated importance of women in society despite the great impact they have played.

Other themes the play explores are disease, in the form of the smallpox, with parallels to covid, sexuality, with very modern resonance to today, and of course suffrage. This last theme has great relevance today in relation to women in politics and the discussion of whether they truly represent the needs of modern women in society.

Another huge plus for this production is how it practiced what it preached. While lauding the strength and tenacity of women of all ages, the cast is all female, containing many parts for older women, crucially cast by women of the same age as the characters they play. This highlighted a problem theatre has faced for decades, with Chittenden perhaps alluding to and seeking to remedy, which she achieved successfully.

Overall, if you have a chance to see it staged again, Clean is a musical that cannot be missed. It is at once historical, modern, dramatic, literary and above all, angry! Clean is a musical all school children should see, to appreciate the struggles women have gone through to obtain the vote and how women have supported, and still support themselves and each other through tremendous hardship. This is a play by a woman, about women, for everyone. Whatever your age or sex, you need to see Clean: The Musical. And based on it’s current success, your next chance to see it may be at London’s West End!

See where Clean! and other shows by this writer are being performed.

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