A devious triangle of love, hatred and disgust, get ready for The Street Theatre’s bewitching production of Jean Genet’s 20th century gripping classic and psychological thriller, The Maids, this May.
Considered by many to be one of the most moving works in the modernist repertory, French novelist and dramatist Jean Genet scandalised generations with his provocative work of power, identity and rebellion.
Two sisters and house maids, Solange and Claire, love and loathe their Mistress, themselves and each other. Each night while the Mistress is away, they pass their time in an obsessive game of roleplaying ‘servant and mistress’.
Boundaries between fantasy and reality blur with a lifetime of oppression and brutality coming to a head in a shocking, unexpected climax.
Under the direction of Caroline Stacey OAM (Waiting for Godot, Crime and Punishment, Twenty Minutes with the Devil), The Maids features a powerhouse ensemble cast of outstanding women making their debut on The Street stage including Christina Falsone, Sophia Marzano and Natasha Vickery
“I was drawn to the universe Genet has created” says Caroline Stacey. “It’s a blazing whirligig fusing the poetic, political, and psychological. It’s filled with wild, brutal, erotic, revolutionary forces that talk to our current world where displacement and otherness shackle all of us.”
“Its staging in Canberra brings the excitement of the incredible out of the box roles for three exceptionally talented actors. It’s a work we hope to illuminate the deep desire for freedom in all of us and using all that live theatre offers to do this.”
Cited the most original and provocative writer of his generation, Jean Genet identified as an outcast who lived, rather famously, as a drifter, petty thief and prostitute during his earlier life.
By the time of his breakthrough play and first book, The Maids (translated by Bernard Frechtman) was published in England, he had become a legendary figure in contemporary European literature.
The Maids was first performed as Les Bonnes at the Théâtre de l’Athénée in Paris on April 17, 1947. In 1999, it was translated by award-winning UK playwright and translator Martin Crimp (Attempts on Her Life) for the Young Vic Theatre.
Capturing the raw examination of servitude and resentment using contemporary language, Crimp’s brilliant and bracing translation retains the poetic and anarchic nature of Genet’s original text. Darkly compelling and disturbingly resonant not to be missed bold theatre!
“One of the most unremittingly moving works in the modernist repertory.” – New York Times
Director: Caroline Stacey | Featuring: Christina Falsone, Sophia Marzano, Natasha Vickery | Set & Costume Designer: Kathleen Kershaw | Lighting Designer: Neil Simpson | Sound Designer: Kimmo Vennonen
The Maids
The Street Theatre, Childers Street, Canberra City West
Season: 24 May – 8 June 2025 (preview: 23 May)
Information and Bookings: www.thestreet.org.au
Image: The Maids by Tobi Skerra