The Story

Archipelago Productions presents the Tasmanian Premiere of Jean Genet’s The Maids translated by Martin Crimp. Jean Genet (1910-1986), French poet, novelist, playwright, and political essayist, was one of the most significant French writers of the twentieth century. Loosely inspired by the true crime story of murderous duo The Papin sisters is Jean Genet’s infamous play for three performers, The Maids. Two sisters, Claire and Solange, live and work as maids in a grand apartment in a big city. When the owners are out, the sisters enact an obsessive game of role-play in which they dress up in the exquisite clothes of their mistress. Acting out the power structures which define their lives with sarcastic ferocity, the sisters expose a complex relationship of violence, submission, tenderness, and erotic tension. As the line between make believe and reality becomes increasingly distorted, it is clear that the duo is planning the murder of their mistress.

This masterpiece of self-conscious theatrical construction is at once hilarious and disturbing, cruel, and empathetic. Genet’s powerful work takes on a journey through the power structures that define our lives, from top to bottom. The master slave relationship, at the heart of so many of our interactions, is torn ruthlessly apart. In the light of our contemporary re-examination of power and institutions rocking the church, parliament, the police, and the patriarchy, this work stands out as a continual beacon, an inspiration and an age-old condemnation. The three women at the centre of this story are all struggling for an escape from the definitions of their lives, but so insidious are the rules that govern their existence, fantasy, delusion, and masks become their only means of coping with their intractable situation. Archipelago Productions has assembled a rich and diverse array of Tasmanian artists to collaborate on this large scale, enduring classic.