The Jermyn Street Theatre and Reading Rep Theatre started the new year with Martin Kemp’s glittering translation of Jean Genet’s classic masterpiece The Maids. This is the first time the two theatres have produced together, and the first time Reading Rep Theatre has been a co-producer of any London production. So, naturally, we went along to see it.
First performed in 1947 and inspired by the real murders committed by the Papin sisters, Jean Genet’s The Maids is a masterpiece of existential and absurdist theatre. The show challenges audiences with its dark humour, poetic language and psychologically rich characters who break the loose lines between pretend play fantasy and reality with breathtaking consequences.
The play is about two sisters, Solange (Anna Popplewell) and Claire (Charlie Oscar), who work as maids for a wealthy woman referred to as “Madame.” (Carla Harrison-Hodge). When their wealthy, glamorous mistress is away, they fill their time roleplaying as mistress and maid in her lavish bedroom. This ritual pretend play oscillates between fantasy, hatred, and yearning bluring the lines between servitude and rebellion, love and hostility.
The roles of Solange and Claire demand a delicate balance of vulnerability and ferocity and the two actors perform those parts well allowing the audience to see through their deeply flawed but achingly human characters. The small stage and the performance so very close to the audience brings to life a bunch of complex emotions that oscillates between brutality, lyrical beauty with layers of poignant humour, tension and resentment in between.
Madame is a largely absent figure but through her brief presence on stage we get a pretty good understanding of her character, a representation of privilege and obliviousness, adding to the tension and resentment that permeates the play.
The confined setting of Madame’s luxurious bedroom becomes a stage for psychological warfare, both between the sisters and within themselves. The atmosphere is claustrophobic and dreamlike, mirroring the characters’ entrapment with sparse but clever use of props like the timer with its harsh beep noise bringing the pretend play to an abrupt stop drawing attention to the play’s absurdist elements.
The Maids is not an easy play to watch and left us unsettled and contemplative with many unanswered questions. We certainly enjoyed its dark humour and the abstract depiction of a young person’s flawed state of mind. This thought-provoking piece of theatre is best enjoyed with older kids (16 and over) who may want to engage and further explore the strange world of complex human behaviour and capacity for cruelty that is as relevant today as it was when Gener wrote it.
The Maids is at the Jermyn Street Theatre until 22 January 2025. Ticket prices £22. Please visit this website for more information and to book your ticket. For our selection of London theatre and performing arts shows for children and families please visit our Theatre & Dance page.