CAST CAST
Solange...........................................................Zoe Snell
Claire.............................................Victoria Pregent
Madame.....................................Charlotte Francis
PRODUCTION PRODUCTION
Director....................................................Nora Scott Jones
Stage Manager................................................Laura Gracey
Intimacy Choreographer...........Nora Scott Jones
Fight Choreographer...................Nora Scott Jones
Set Design................................................Nora Scott Jones
Light Design...........................................Nora Scott Jones
Costume Design............................................Conner Boggs
Sound Design...................................................Katie Williams
DIRECTOR'S NOTE DIRECTOR'S NOTE
Jean Genet's The Maids is loosely based on the true story of the Papin sisters. In 1933, the Papin sisters infamously murdered their employer and her daughter. Genet's script follows two sisters, Claire and Solange, role-playing as their mistress while she is away. Outside of their fantasies, the sisters attempt to ruin Madame by anonymously reporting her lover for theft. He is arrested, and Madame is distraught. The role-playing goes awry when the sisters learn that Madame's lover will be released from prison.
The Maids explores identity, power dynamics, and gender roles. Claire and Solange vacillate between versions of themselves they wish to be versus what they are forced to be. Their personalities are dualistic When Madame is in the room, they are subservient When they are alone, they are wild.
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Set & Properties Coordinator.......Ceirra Burdyck
Kalyn Dickey & Laura Gracey
Master Electrician...................................Jules Robinson
Lighting Programmer............................Amber Whatley
Lighting Assistant....................................Rachel Phinney
Costume Assistant.............................Chloe Henderson
Stitcher.....................................................................Keira Maupin
Sound Technician........................................Amy Syverson
Sound Board Operator..........................Katie Williams
Light Board Operator..............................Paris Garrett
Construction...................................................Daniel Schurz
Run Crew.....................................................................Mia Powers
Program & Poster Design...........Nora Scott Jones
House Managers.........................................Ceirra Burdyck
Kalyn Dickey & Caleb Young
Show Photographer.......................................Alix Brown
Rehearsal Photographer.................................Julia Orr & Nora Scott Jones
Our production is designed with the seed of duality. Through color, shape, and reflection, the design of the show is crafted to personify the dualistic personas of Genet's characters. Red permeates the space. On one hand, red represents Madame's taste for sophistication and class. To the maids, red represents murder, revenge, and power The intentionality of color can be seen in every design component and is used to differentiate between fact and fiction.
In his switching between make-believe and reality, Genet uses Ritual Theatre to create a thematic and disturbing atmosphere. Jean Genet was heavily inspired by Antonin Artaud's Theatre of Cruelty in the conception of his plays. Genet uses symbolism and repetition to elicit a phenomenological response from the audience Ideally, the ritualistic aspects should discomfort the audience. On a surface level, Jean Genet's The Maids can be written off as a shock factor experience full of murder, lust, and incest. However, the play is far more emotionally complex than its explicit components. The sisters do not merely lust after one another; they lust for power and connection. The repetition of violence and ceremony is used to personify the cycle of pain experienced by the maids. Our production explores the dangers of society's value in social class and idolization. We hope audiences leave our space with both an appreciation and a curiosity for the thematic components of Jean Genet's The Maids.
- Nora Scott Jones, Director
