Solange and Claire are sisters and servants, attending to the needs of the
young woman known to them as “Madame.” They’re also nuts. What’s made them
that way is an interesting question, the answer to which may or may not be
embedded in the gambits they act out during The Maids, Jean
Genet’s 1947 succes de scandale, getting a less than successful revival now
at the Artistic Home.
Sartre goes on to suggest that Genet wanted to make a whirligig of gender,
too, citing a remark from his Our Lady of the Flowers: “If I were
to have a play put on in which women had roles, I would demand that these
roles be played by adolescent boys, and I would bring this to the attention
of the spectators by means of a placard which would remain nailed to the
right or left of the sets during the entire performance.” And, indeed,
though its world-premiere cast consisted of three women (Sartre says it was
a concession to the director), there have been plenty of Maids
with men in various styles and degrees of drag.
Through 7/14; Fri-Sat 9 PM, The Artistic Home, 1376 W. Grand, 866-811-4111, theartistichome.org, $25.
