the maids
written by
Jean Genet
Subuhi Jiwani, in Time Out Mumbai, Vol.I, Issue 4, 2004:
Complex is often not equated with fascinating but Pushan Kripalani's re-staging of French dramatist Jean Genet's absurd play The Maids (1948) is fascinating because of its complexity- and because of the way it's been staged. Kripalani handles this weighty play carefully, and his adaptation maps the distance between then and now, France and India without too much baggage.
Genet based his play on the heinous murder and mutilation of one Mme Lancelin by her maids, the Papin sisters, in Paris in 1933. We're drawn into the power games the maids play- Clare plays Madame and bosses her older sister Solange, then Solange launches into Madame's role only to return almost immediately to her masochism.
Shanaya Rafaat, who plays Solange, gives a textured performance, especially towards the end when she delivers an extended monologue moving maddeningly fast between characters and phantasms.
credits
cast
Ira Dubey
Suchitra Pillai
Shanaya Rafaat
Imogen Butler-Cole
production team
Harishri Babuji
Ayesha Raza
lighting
Arghya Lahiri
Yael Crishna
directed by
Pushan Kripalani