French drama gets new look

There’s a body of creative, young directors emerging in the theatre world and Andrea Beça is shooting right to the top. She has a wealth of creative output and a crystal clear vision of where to take a play.

The artistic director of Cowardly Kiss Theatre most impresses with her intrepid ventures and fresh spins into experimental plays and established classics.

Therefore it’s no surprise that the Edmonton-based director is mounting Jean Genet’s The Maids in a fetishized style at Catalyst Theatre from April 13 to 21.

One of the more gripping, bizarre and surreal dramas from the French canon, it is loosely based on the infamous Papin sisters who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, France in 1933.

Although The Maids is often used as a teaching tool at universities and colleges, public performances are few and far between. And for Beça, it was important to give the message of class struggle a public airing.

Describing its virtues, she said: “It’s a strong script. There are lots of levels. It’s dark, but funny too and there’s a lot of interesting work in the script.”

Starring in this controversial production is Paul Kane graduate Louise Large, nee Casemore (Claire), Sarah Horsman (Solange) and Zachary Parsons-Lozinski (Madam).

The plot is straightforward. Solange and Claire are two housemaids ashamed and resentful of their slave-like station in life. When Madam, their mistress is away, they concoct elaborate sadomasochistic rituals. Envious of Madam they focus on role-playing the murder of Madam and take turns portraying both sides of the power divide.

When Genet wrote the play in the 1940s, he didn’t have to look far for the poverty, debauchery and criminality that is central to this play. His own life as a homosexual, prostitute, thief and convict has been sliced and diced by countless generations of playwrights and scholars.

It was his exploration of the darker areas of life that helped develop the French theatrical movement Theatre of the Absurd, and became an absorbing subject on literary criticism on homosexuality.

“The Maids was originally written by Genet for three young men. He was drawn to theatre because of the falseness of it, the unrealistic reality. To him it was like a house of mirrors. In a lot of ways Solange and Claire are mirror images of each other.”

Selecting the right cast was paramount.

“Louise came to the auditions and immediately had a fierceness and versatility. On the flip side Sarah is sweet, perky and happy and you see her transform into a horrible monster. And Zachary, as a man in drag, personifies the softer side. It’s a good juxtaposition.”

This year The Maids celebrates the 65th anniversary of its inaugural production, however Beça believes it still resonates with modern audiences.

“We’re always aspiring after what we don’t have and are blind to the consequences. My generation is especially so fame hungry, and when you do get it, do you want everybody following you around and digging up your past?”