Directed by Benedict Andrews, The Maids arrived in New York after a June 2013 engagement in Sydney. The limited, 13-performance engagement officially opened Aug. 8 at New York City Center.
Critics were mixed on the production that was a hot ticket among theatregoers. Read the reviews here.
"The challenge with Genet is to not smooth over the dangerous, often ugly, underbelly of his work," Blanchett told Playbill. "His obsession with murder, death, claustrophobia, brutality, dominance and submission. That's why it was so exciting to work on a new adaptation, which was at once brutal, shocking, lyrical and poetic." Read the full interview here.
The Maids features Blanchett ("Blue Jasmine," A Streetcar Named Desire) and Isabelle Huppert as servants Claire and Solange, with Elizabeth Debicki as Madame.
The staging has production design by Alice Babidge and lighting design by Nick Schlieper.
Here's how it's billed: "The play is set in a glamorous apartment crammed with flowers. Two maids, Claire and Solange (Blanchett and Huppert), are nearing the end of their psychological tether. Each night the sisters play a deadly game, or ceremony, creating their own theater in which they take turns playing the role of their mistress (Debicki)."
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