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An oasis for those who love classic stories. Los Angeles Times
fall 2016
  • A Noise Within

    The 1947 “Failure” of Jean Genet’s The Maids

    Genet is on record describing The Maids as a “failure.” Why? Christopher Lane, in his article “The Voided Role: On Genet”, supposes that the “failure” of the play is encoded in its message, or we might say, in its poetics…. Lane writes that “Genet’s interest in his characters’ fantasies and identifications interrupts what might seem an obvious oscillation between master and…

  • A Noise Within

    Jean Genet based The Maids on a real murder case from 1933

    Christine and Léa Papin were real-life sisters who came from an abusive, dysfunctional, poor family. As adults, the two were extremely close and may have had an incestuous relationship. They worked as maids for the Lancelin family for many years, but one night in February 1933, they brutally murdered their employer, Madame Lancelin, and her daughter, Genvieve, in their home….

  • A Noise Within

    ANW welcomes four new board members

    ANW’s Board of Directors is an exceptional group of dedicated individuals with various backgrounds and endless expertise and wisdom. We are pleased to announce our four newest members. Long-time patron and supporter Jeanie Kay and her husband Terry Kay, ANW Board President from 2003-2014, were also instrumental during the capital campaign and ANW’s move to…