FRINGE REVIEW: The Maids

POSTED: Saturday, September 8, 2012, 10:18 AM

Every year, there's hundreds and hundreds of performances at the Philly Fringe and Live Arts Festival, and unless it's one of the big shows, it's sometimes hard to tell what you're going to get. Here at Critical Mass we're sending writers to as many shows as we possibly can for 75 pocket-sized reviews over the course of the fest. Check back in with us at On The Fringe every day for real talk on what these things actually are!

SHOW: The Maids

GROUP: Kicking Mule Theatre Company

GENRE: Theater

ATTENDED: Fri., Sept. 7, 8 p.m.

CLOSES: Sun., Sept. 9

BRIEF SELF-DESCRIPTION: In this fascinating dark ceremony by Jean Genet, every night two sisters, Solange and Claire, "play" at destroying Madame, their employer. Genet explores the eternal archetype of female and male nature in these unusual and infinite mirrors of good and evil.

WE THINK: Put simply, the act of murder is some cold, calculating shit. In other mediums, there's rarely a glimpse into the build-up behind the act. It's only ever the interrogation, and an explanation as to why it happened. However, this endeavor is that look into what happens when anger, dissatisfaction, and resentment boil over. Sisters Claire (Danny Kevin Ryan) and Solange (James Ludlum) attend to the Madame's (Francine Rousell) every waking need, and they fucking hate her for it. While she's out galavanting, they plot. They want to ruin her.

The opening is confounding and jarring, but ties together when the vaunted Madame finally enters. If she were simply a nasty wench then it'd be understandable why they want to strike her down, but Roussel walks a delightfully fine line between warm and cold, and it only pushes the sisters further to the edge. The freak-out scenes that take place while she's away drive the production. Ultimately, the pacing and plotting here produce a captivating murder ballad.

—Chris Brown

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Featuring everything from event roundups to concert reviews and sex talk, City Paper's Critical Mass is a space for off-the-wall coverage of Philly's A&E scene.

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