The Maids at Donmar Warehouse Review
Written by Cathie for Theatre & Tonic
Disclaimer: Gifted tickets in exchange for an honest review
At what point do lines blur between employee and employer? When does obsession and social status blur into murder? Director and writer Kip Williams has created a powerfully modern adaptation of Jean Genet’s 1947 playtext The Maids. The original text is loosely based on the murderers Christine and Lea Papin, two maids who murdered their employer and her daughter in 1933. Although the original murderers were successful, will their theatrical counterparts manage to murder their madam?
The storyline has been plucked, polished and reset in a glittering social media crown for our modern times. The story opens with sisters and maids Claire (Lydia Wilson) and Solange (Phia Saban) acting out a vicious “ceremony” where they mock, denigrate and viciously murder their “madam”. With incestuous and deeply sexual undertones, the sisters have plotted every detail of the murder in abject detail and enact it in turns every night. Their boss is shown to be an utterly foul narcissist, with no care towards others beyond how they can serve her. The maids hate her but are utterly obsessed with her life and even pray to a butchered idol representing her in their room. When Madam (Yerin Ha), an influencer with 24 million followers and an abundance of trust fund money, appears, we can see that the sisters did not understate her vile behaviour. Their plan to ruin her boyfriend “Monsieur” with a framing of fraud and remove him from Madam’s life before murdering her and consuming her life is meticulously detailed but ultimately filled with holes.
The characters are utterly vile, but their behaviour is learned. The maids are fervent acolytes of Madam, and she has clearly learnt this behaviour from her family. There is no positive feeling felt towards the characters at all. The trio of actors’ chemistry is absolutely brilliant and they gleefully wring out every sordid, lurid fantasy and flaw of these roles. The themes of false faces, obsession and depravity are beautifully illustrated. Its criticism of modern social media culture and current unhealthy fashion trends are witty and powerful.
Visually the show is incredibly overwhelming. It uses garishly bright lighting to showcase madam’s room in all its Instagram worthy glory. Rosanna Vise’s design excellently emphasises the hidden cankers of the characters but also their obsession with visual beauty and the worth of objects over people. It is a scathing indictment of modern excess and an excellent showcase of its outward innocence. Marg Horwell’s costume design is central to the plot in showcasing the outer sheen of the characters and their obsession with items in a beautifully layered way. Zakk Hein’s brilliant use of the projection of Snapchat filters and video lives on the mirrored walls keeps the production grounded in the present moment and magnifies the flaws of the characters and their seedy motivations brilliantly.
The one hour and forty minutes running time works perfectly to pull you into the clawing obsession of the sisters and the claustrophobic atmosphere of “Madam’s house”. From the initial “ceremony” to realising they are both sisters in the first half hour, to meeting Madam at fifty minutes, the tension quickly increases throughout to a breakneck pace in the final conclusion. As one scene through which the entire action happens, it is certainly captivating.
This is a powerful, horrifying and incredibly draining show. The performances are truly incredible, and this modern revival is not to be missed. If you are seeking a scathing critique of social climbing, social media culture and exploring the dark actions individuals’ obsessions will lure them to, then this is the show for you.
The Maids plays at Donmar Warehouse until 29 November.
★★★★★
