Opera, sequins, kazoos, acrobatics, ballet, over-the-top makeup and the broadest Kiwi accents since Lyn of Tawa, Rubber Gloves is sheer fun. The premise is that two cleaners, Gladys and Beryl, have come to clean the theatre only to discover it is full of people. They tell us they weren’t always cleaners and proceed to take us on a rollercoaster ride of their lives and improbable careers, segueing from one character to another.

Jennifer Currie and Trish Sullivan, who play the respective Beryl and Gladys, have a nice dynamic with Sullivan playing the vibrant, vivacious Gladys and Currie playing the more understated and self-deprecating Beryl. The character changes are done well, with no disruption to the flow, maintaining the constant dialogue with a lot of one-liners that the audience really appreciates.

Some funny moments occur, like when Beryl can’t get one of her rubber gloves off to play a new character, whispering to the audience, “Well I couldn’t get it off, could I.” They often break the fourth wall much to the delight of the audience.

Personal favourites from the montage of ‘jobs’ they had include Gladys’s stint as an avant garde hairdresser and Beryl’s job in a call centre with the ‘phone’ that kept forgetting to ‘ring’.

Hopefully we will see more of Beryl and Gladys, there is potential for a fuller and richer story. They are certainly a lot of fun but I’m not sure if I would have them clean my house!

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