The Maids at HOME

Kristy Stott, Theatre Editor
The Maids at HOME

The Maids at HOME Manchester, Manchester 16 November — 1 December 2018 Tickets from £10.00 — Book now

We’re thrilled that the renowned international director Lily Sykes brings The Maids to HOME Manchester. Earlier this year Sykes presented an incredibly successful production of Dennis Kelly’s Girls and Boys at the Berliner Ensemble.

Exploring the complex relationship between servant and employer, The Maids is a new take on Jean Genet’s radical, subversive and playful modern classic.

The boundary between fantasy and reality becomes increasingly blurred and distorted

Clare and Solange are two sisters who live and work in a grand house in a French city. Whenever their unnamed mistress leaves the house, the two sisters play an obsessive game of role play in which one of the sisters dresses up in the fine clothes belonging to their mistress. Acting out the power structures which determine their identities with great theatricality, the sisters reveal a complex relationship of violence, submission, tenderness and erotic tension. With every departure of their mistress and with each game of role play, the boundary between fantasy and reality becomes increasingly blurred and distorted. Soon it becomes clear that the aim of the game is to murder their mistress.

Inspired by the real-life case of Christine and Léa Papin, Genet’s radical play is a gothic horror story exploring power and desire. The play first premiered in Paris in 1947 following the genuine case of the Papin sisters who, in 1933 bludgeoned their employer and her daughter to death before they were discovered lying calmly naked in bed together with their bloody murder weapons at their side.

Written well ahead of its time, The Maids pivots around the notion of gender as performance and explodes contemporary discussion around sexual and political outcasts and the inequality of society.

The Maids at HOME Manchester, Manchester 16 November — 1 December 2018 Tickets from £10.00 Book now

What's on at HOME Manchester

Where to go near The Maids at HOME

Manchester
Restaurant
Indian Tiffin Room, Manchester

Indian Tiffin Room is a restaurant specialising in Indian street food, with branches in Cheadle and Manchester. This is the information for the Manchester venue.

The Ritz Manchester live music venue
Manchester
Music venue
The Ritz

The Ritz was originally a dance hall, built in 1928, has hosted The Beatles, Frank Sinatra and The Smiths and is still going strong as a gig venue now.

Homeground
Manchester
Event venue
Homeground

Homeground is HOME’s brand new outdoor venue, providing an open-air space for theatre, food, film, music, comedy and more.

Manchester
Café or Coffee Shop
Burgess Cafe Bar
at IABF

Small but perfectly-formed café – which also serves as the in-house bookstore, stocking all manner of Burgess-related works, along with recordings of his music. It’s a welcoming space, with huge glass windows making for a bright, welcoming atmosphere.

Rain Bar pub in Manchester
City Centre
Bar or Pub
Rain Bar

This huge three-floor pub, formerly a Victorian warehouse, then an umbrella factory (hence the name), has one of the city centre’s largest beer gardens. The two-tier terrace overlooks the Rochdale canal and what used to be the back of the Hacienda, providing an unusual, historic view of the city.

Manchester
Bar or Pub
The Briton’s Protection

Standing on the corner of a junction opposite The Bridgewater Hall, The Briton’s Protection is Manchester’s oldest pub. It has occupied the same spot since 1795, going under the equally patriotic name The Ancient Britain.

Castlefield Gallery, Manchester
Castlefield
Gallery
Castlefield Gallery

The influential Castlefield Gallery sits at the edge of Manchester’s exciting Castlefield district, an ideal home for thought-provoking contemporary art.

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