The Maids

The Maids
By Jean Genet. Translated and adapted by Benedict Andrews and Andrew Upton. Sydney Theatre Company. Director: Benedict Andrews. Designer: Alice Babidge. Sydney Theatre. June 4 – July 20, 2013.

Gridlock on the streets of Sydney delayed the opening of The Maids as hundreds of thousands of people crowded the shores of Sydney Harbour to see the one of the last nights of dazzling lights of the Vivid festival.

There was just as much eye candy inside the Sydney Theatre.

First the extraordinary set, inside a luxury home. The wardrobe seemed to stretch for an eternity upon which hung the finest furs and frocks.

The walls were transparent, behind which cameras broadcast all the action when the cast faced away from the audience onto a large screen.

We saw make-up applied close-up in an hysterical frenzy and even a head being dunked in a toilet.  

Much beautiful flesh was on display in crisp French knickers.

In this classic, the naughty maids Claire (Cate Blanchett)  and Solande (Isabelle Huppert) plot to do in their Mistress Elizabeth Debicki.

The Australianisms from the pen of Benedict and Andrew were cute.

Our Cate again chose a role with a degree of difficulty 9.9 and like a world champion diver twisted and turned with sublime precision. So spent was she, that during the curtain call she was catching her breath. It was a two-hour tour de force.

Coming after her last appearance in Gross and Klein, which was equally frenetic, the thought occurred to me that it’s about time the STC gave her a role that was a little more leisurely.

Her fellow naughty maid Isabelle Huppert had almost as many challenges on stage. A highlight of the play was her subtle reactions when the Mistress made comments like, there are so many flowers here it looks like a mausoleum.

Alongside two legends Elizabeth Debicki may have felt a little out of her weight division and was perhaps a little too intense – but like everything else on the stage – looked extraordinary.

The play moves quickly and sometimes leaves the audience a little lost. But as a theatrical spectacle it’s not to be missed.

David Spicer

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