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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…
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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….
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A Noise Within
Behind closed doors with The Maids
SNEAK PEEK: Last week, actresses Jaimi Paige and Donnla Hughes (who play the titular maids, Claire and Solange, respectively) and director Stephanie Shroyer gathered in a downtown L.A. loft for a sizzling promotional photo shoot. ANW Artistic Director Geoff Elliott and Shroyer talk us through their favorite photos, and share a few tidbits about what…