The Maids, theatre review: Feverish vision of rebellion and revenge

Jamie Lloyd's take on Jean Genet’s provocative 1947 play features memorably intense performances from its star-studded cast, but an unsubtle translation robs the play of some of its wit, says Henry Hitchings
Henry Hitchings1 March 2016

Over the past three years, director Jamie Lloyd has done an impressive job of drawing eager new audiences to Whitehall’s Trafalgar Studios. Bold casting has been the key, and his take on Jean Genet’s provocative 1947 play is no exception — bringing together Uzo Aduba from Orange Is The New Black, Zawe Ashton from Fresh Meat and Downton Abbey’s Laura Carmichael.

Genet was inspired by the story of two sisters in the Thirties, arrested for beating their employer to death. Their trial engrossed France, and he preserved its ugly memory with this feverish vision of the desire to shrug off tyranny and claim independence. Aduba and Ashton play housemaids Solange and Claire, who plot to kill their rich and oppressive mistress. When she leaves the house, they act out elaborately sinister fantasies. But instead of getting to exact a truly satisfying revenge, they’re doomed to continue these rituals.

The performances are memorably intense. Aduba’s Solange at first seems tough and subdued, yet turns into a fierce orator who seethes with fury, while Ashton switches from flamboyant escapism to a suffocating anxiety. In the smallest role Carmichael, looking like a cross between a mint humbug and a glittering fairy, does a fine line in cool indifference.

Fierce orator: Uzo Aduba as Solange
Marc Brenner

Lloyd’s decision to make this a drama about racial tensions rather than just class is smart, and locating the action in America feels equally shrewd. But he uses an unsubtle translation by Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton, which robs the play of some of its wit. Visual trickery and brash music can’t mask the unevenness of Genet’s writing or the essentially one-note nature of this interpretation.

Until May 21, Trafalgar Studios (0844 871 7632)

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