Blair Brown, Jill Clayburgh to Star in The Clean House at Lincoln Center

Blair Brown and Jill Clayburgh will star in Lincoln Center Theater's production of The Clean House, a new comedy by Sarah Ruhl. The play begins performances at LCT's Mitzi E. Newhouse Theater on October 5, directed by Bill Rauch. The cast also includes John Dossett, Concetta Tomei and Vanessa Aspillaga.

In The Clean House, Lane, a high-powered doctor Brown, seems to have it all—except for a clean house. Her housekeeper, a young Brazilian woman Aspillaga who hates to clean, is only interested in coming up with the world's funniest joke. When a crisis strikes without warning, Lane's life spins out of control. Dossett plays Lane's husband, Clayburgh is her sister, and Tomei is a free spirit named Ana.

The Clean House, which premiered at New Haven's Yale Repertory Theatre, was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Ruhl's other plays include Melancholy Play, Eurydice, Late: A Cowboy Song and Passion Play. LCT's production of The Clean House will mark the playwright's New York debut.

Brown last appeared at LCT in Tom Stoppard's Arcadia. She won a Tony Award for her performance in Copenhagen and has appeared on Broadway in The Secret Rapture, James Joyce's The Dead and Cabaret.

Clayburgh has enjoyed a busy year on New York stages, most recently in The Busy World Is Hushed at Playwrights Horizons and last season's Broadway productions of Barefoot in the Park and A Naked Girl on the Appian Way. Other Broadway credits for the Oscar-nominated actress include Design for Living, Jumpers, Pippin and The Rothschilds.

Dossett spent the last year playing Sam in the Broadway production of Mamma Mia!. He appeared in the LCT productions of Dinner at Eight and Hello Again and on Broadway in The Constant Wife, Democracy, Gypsy, An Almost Holy Picture and Ragtime.

Tomei created the role of the Doctor in Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart. Other off-Broadway credits include Richard III, Fen, Cloud Nine and A Private View. Broadway credits include The Elephant Man, Noises Off and Goodbye Fidel.

Aspillaga appeared on Broadway in Nilo Cruz's Anna in the Tropics. Other New York credits include Liz Swados' Missionaries as well as productions at NY Theater Workshop, The Alliance Theatre, Theatre for a New City and INTAR.

Director Bill Rauch is artistic director of Los Angeles' Cornerstone Theater Company and directed the Yale Rep production of The Clean House. His LCT production of the play is scheduled to open off-Broadway on October 30.