Maia Kahn
What does washing our undergarments reveal about ourselves? Our pasts? Our society? The gender roles we’re raised to conform to and our relationships to sex? Weaving in memories of her native São Paulo, Brazilian writer-performer Renata Garcia uses audience participation, bits of clown, music, and monologue to “air the dirty laundry” in House of Shame at the Etcetera Theatre. The journey is spurred by a housemate reprimanding Garcia for hand washing her intimates in the bathroom sink rather than using the washer, which raises the above questions about ritual, taboo bodily function, and female coming of age, centreing above all around childhood shame, particularly in Catholic school.
From hopscotch games to clandestine visits to the lingerie store, each vignette Garcia recounts contains its own variation on the main theme aided by Mariana Pereira’s careful direction; A fake washing machine anchors the set, with a laundry line of various knickers as a kind of unorthodox bunting.
The bold production artwork depicts its performer as a wide-eyed, multilimbed entity, and it’s accurate: Garcia is an instantly loveable stage presence, both trustworthy in her command of the work and entirely unpredictable in where she will go next. She has an unbelievable range of expression in her face that elevates her absurd physicality in the show’s comedic moments.
Without giving away too much, though, she is also able to use these visual extremes to powerful emotional effect. There is no shortage of cringe humour, relatable exchange, and prop work in this production, but it’s all purposeful, allowing the discomfort to cover the awkward and the traumatic alike. We emerge with a vibrant portrait of the artist as well as the motivation to accept the similarly messy parts of our lives.
House of Shame turns the subject of uncleanliness into a sparkling and cathartic hour.
Vodka Orange
House of Shame
Performance Dates- Thu 5 Nov 2026
- Fri 6 Nov 2026
- Sat 7 Nov 2026
House of Shame is an electric show about the dirty things women are told to keep to themselves. Framed by the experience of growing up as a girl in Brazil, the show is, ultimately, a…
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