Comedy Dirty Water puts cleaning squad capers on the stage

Kirsty Strain certainly agrees with Billy Connolly’s summation of the effect laughter has on us. That’s why the actor is especially delighted to be in rehearsals for stage play Dirty Water. It’s a comedy based around the lives of a group of cleaners under pressure to please the bosses, clean offices and floors at record time – while maintaining a Mr Sheen sparkle in their own lives.

“It’s got a real balance between humour and heart,” she says. “Humour is one of the biggest survival tools we have, and it’s great to hear that played out on stage.”

Dirty Water began life as a theatre play before it morphed into a 2023 STV television sitcom. “We get to bring that TV dynamic back and then make that adjustment to theatre,” says Strain who plays Kaitlin.

“I wasn’t part of the original stage play but the writer [John Stuart] readjusted the play to bring in a female character for the sitcom, to give a little balance. And it’s so much fun to work on. The team have a little bit of a shorthand and a language having been on stage together, but we also have some new rhythms. It’s such a great collaborative experience.”

Kirsty Swain agrees with Billy Connolly’s take on laughter (Image: free)

It’s not hard to see why Strain is loving the role. Kaitlin’s comic delivery is dryer than a floor space that hasn’t seen a mop in months. “She does have to be able to handle these guys she works with. But what I really like about her is that while she’s really strong and assertive and powerful, she also has a vulnerability too, which gives you then chance to reveal both, and find the humour in those moments.”

Kirsty Strain certainly has the comic experience to offer up caustic comedy. Back in 2015 she appeared at the Pavilion Theatre wearing a fat suit and playing to packed houses in 52 Shades of Maggie, a parody of the soft porn novel, 50 Shades of Grey. “Back then I felt a real excited nervousness because Glasgow is my home city, and it was incredibly personal. But once the show began, I felt that it flew, and I could wallow in the joy of it.

“However, this is a very different set-up in that it’s a new ensemble piece. And it's great to have that support system round about you.”

The actor, who has appeared in the likes of River City, dramas Outlander and Guilt, also honed her comedy skills while working with the Burnistoun team in the cult BBC Scotland sketch series.

Interestingly, her three years spent studying acting in New York at the famous Lee Strasberg's Actor's Studio hadn’t encouraged the skillset for generating laughs.

“The period was fascinating, and a great learning experience,” she recalls. “But the training didn’t incorporate much scope for comedy. And during that time, I think I forgot I had a funny bone. I had been taking life far too seriously.”

She adds; "When I was growing up my granddad would entertain me with videos of Hector Nicol and Laurel and Hardy, which I loved, but the time in New York sort of made me forget that.”

Dirty Water meantime isn’t simply focused on gags and giggles, the play also focuses in on the notion of friendship, of how closeness can become dirtied when under pressure, and then polished up, with a bit of effort.

But does romance feature in this world of cleaning fluids and dust pans? “Well, not really,” she says, grinning. “What this lot have in common is a series of failed relationships. My character, for example, had a boyfriend in the sitcom, but he cheated on her and now she’s like a fish out of water. She doesn’t know how to deal with the emotional pressures – and then she finds herself working in this world beside men who are even more emotionally clueless than she is. The guys can get a little wild at times, but it’s her job to temper that. Which is in itself funny.”

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She adds: “The play reveals how the cleaners are not successful in love, and we do get laughs out of their failed attempts at flirtation. But we also discover that they are all very successful at friendship.”

Away from acting, Kirsty Strain has developed a parallel career. “I’ve been focused on my coaching work, on voice work, on dialects and communications, which has been going really well, working with people across all industries, to help people connect more effectively.”

The perfect career compliment to playing a cleaner in a comedy play? “It really is,” she says, smiling.

Dirty Water – The Inspection, the Pavilion Theatre, Glasgow, March 13 – 16, also features Joe Cassidy, Robert O’Donnell and John Stuart.

Don’t Miss: Billie Collins’ Peak Stuff, which asks the question; “In an age of retail therapy, climate crisis and click and collect - how does our 'stuff' define us? And have we reached peak stuff?” Saturday, the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh.