The Street Theatre | Review by Jessica Kelly
Powerful Performances Captivate in Surreal Psychological Thriller
9 June 2025
“When slaves love one another, it’s not love.”
Since 1946, Jean Genet’s The Maids has been confronting readers and audiences alike in its shameless exploration of gender roles, sexuality and power dynamics, and though flawed in some aspects, The Street Theatre’s production (using Martin Crimp’s translation) is no exception.
The surreal psychological thriller follows two sisters, Solange and Claire, who work as servants for a wealthy woman known only as ‘The Mistress’. To quell their mounting frustrations with their job and station in life, the pair engage in an elaborate, obsessive roleplay while The Mistress is out, taking turns to enact fantasies of murder, humiliation and power. Soon enough, the line between fantasy and reality begins to blur as the maids begin to spiral, culminating in a disturbing climax. For its time, Genet presents progressive, thought-provoking themes on class struggle and identity, which the artistic choices in The Street’s production aim to heighten.
It was easily the performances that were a personal highlight of this production. Christina Falsone as Solange forces us to feel her raw desperation and misery as she yearns for a better life, whilst simultaneously frightening with erratic moments of delusion and a violent hatred for The Mistress. Her unbridled flurry of emotions had me breathless as she performed with such truth behind each line, movement and expression. The younger of the two, Claire, has an envy and obsession for The Mistress that spills out of every aspect of Sophia Marzano’s portrayal, from timid adoration to brutal fits of mania. These masterful, juxtaposing performances provide an endless waltz, the pair’s visceral power dynamic ever-changing as they take on aspects of the other’s personality throughout.
From the moment she steps on stage, Natasha Vickery is all too believable as the infamous Mistress, commanding the space with a magnetic presence that gave some respite from Solange and Claire’s madness. Her lighthearted disposition masks a cruelty bubbling just under the surface, leaving me just as conflicted as the maids on whether to love or hate her.
Caroline Stacey’s direction delivers an existential, fever dream atmosphere, and the piece succeeds in being a surreal experience. She utilizes every inch of space, the staging’s choreographed chaos keeping me uneasy and tense throughout. However, the abstract elements sometimes felt overdone, creating some confusion that led my attention to wander as the production breached 100 minutes in runtime.
I could recognise Stacey’s intention to modernise the story, utilizing a contemporary, opulent set (featuring designer clothes on display, deep reds in every corner and an overflowing vanity) designed by Kathleen Kershaw to resonate with audiences. But while the production reminds us that class inequality is still prevalent today, a deeper meaning or relevance is lost in translation with the script’s outdated circumstances, and a lack of specificity in where or when this version is supposed to be set leaves the characters ungrounded.
The Street Theatre’s production of The Maids is an ambitious piece that still delivers a dynamic exploration of Genet’s themes through its exceptional performances, despite some lost potential for modern resonance. Although some abstract flourishes fall flat, the raw energy and captivating portrayals at its core make it an unsettling, thought-provoking experience.
Jessica Kelly is a young artist currently creating on Ngunnawal land. From performing and viewing, to directing and writing, Jessica is obsessed with all aspects of theatre. She has enjoyed participating in community productions since her childhood, and took any chance during her school and college years to be involved with the Performing Arts programs, often writing or directing her own pieces. She looks forward to having more exposure to Canberra’s theatre scene as a means to grow her own artistic abilities and perspective!
