From the NY Times review of The Clean House

“There are things, big invisible things, that come unannounced — they walk in, and we have to give way."

The chilly silence that follows this explanation is broken by Matilde, ready with her usual remedy: “Would anybody like to hear a joke?”

Of course it’s told in Portuguese, so you probably won’t get it. But this peculiarity epitomizes a fundamental message of Ms. Ruhl’s odd and enchanting play: We may never come to a full understanding of the jokes life plays, but the wisest and possibly noblest response is to have a good laugh anyway.

by Charles Isherwood