Review of The Maids (Off-Broadway) at St. Ann’s Warehouse

If you’re new here, and stumbled upon this blog through the mythical powers of the Internet, welcome! I know a lot of visitors to my website are people who randomly come upon this website through search engines like Google, but I also do have a lot of visitors who come back. Regardless: my name is Ashley, and I started this blog in order to keep track of everything I’m coming across in the world.

I used to live in New York City when I went to college, as I attended the Fashion Institute of Technology for my undergraduate degrees, but when I left the city because of the COVID-19 pandemic and never really returned, I knew that I was regretting my time in college not taking advantage of student deals for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions.

Granted, I had never been exposed to that kind of environment, or theatre at all, so when I started working in New York theatre and spent some time in that world, I jumped back into it. This blog has been a way to document my journey as a theatre lover and watcher, especially considering I don’t like to do short-form video. Written criticism has always been my thing more.

The Maids is a show I actually bought tickets for as soon as they were available and announced. I had enjoyed Yerin Ha’s performance in Bridgerton and knew about the show because of her involvement, but the plot really interested me—and I also wanted to check out St. Ann’s Warehouse.

So I made an entire New York trip out of it! I had also bought tickets to go see Proof, so I made an entire Saturday running around three different boroughs shopping, seeing shows, and hanging out with friends.

Let’s get into the review!

Two maids, who despise their Madame, role play situations in which they let out their anger and eventually kill her.

For reference, this is a French play from the 1940s, but the script has been updated for the modern day. I feel like, from plays that transfer from London especially, that there’s a lot of playing with video and screens—this is a production that really utilizes a phone to get up close.

There are three characters in this play: Solange, Claire, and Madame. In the beginning of the play Solange (the younger sister) and Claire (the older sister) are playing around in a simulation where Claire portrays the Madame. It turns out this is a ritual they do every day, or when the Madame is away.

They switch the role of Madame, but they basically engage in this voyeuristic situation where they scream about how they hate the Madame, mocking her habits and way of speech, and end up trying to kill her. Rarely do they ever go through with the act of finishing her off, which shows they’re unable to get past that barrier.

The Madame’s boyfriend has also been put in jail because of something the maids orchestrated, leading to further plotting to finish her off because now the police are going to go after them if they catch a hint that they set him up.

In terms of the actual set, the curtains are drawn until the first reveal, then we actually get to see the full stage unobstructed. It’s set entirely in the Madame’s room, with a new element of video happening on the mirrors behind when the girls pull out the phones.

I feel like the phones and social media add another layer to this script, especially when Solange keeps insisting none of this is real. They’ve constructed this life and lie in a way where they can’t separate fiction from reality, potentially erasing themselves in the process. The final scene and the way they decided to structure this really adds to the surrealism aspect.

All three actors were wonderful in this, although Yerin’s performance drew the most reactions from the audience. It’s the two maids who do the brunt of the play through—Yerin pops in about halfway as the Madame and eventually leaves before the final scenes.

Overall Thoughts

This was an avant garde play, that’s for sure. I think the pacing is good throughout, except there’s a bit of a lull before Madame shows up. I started nodding off a little at that point and spacing out, as it felt repetitive to the scenes that happened right before it.

That said, I thought this was a good production, even though I think some of the aspects and decisions behind it are definitely going to be lost on some audiences. I heard this play had divided reception, and I could honestly see why.

I saw the third to last performance, so unfortunately it won’t be at St. Ann’s Warehouse with this cast any longer, but I’m honestly glad I saw it. The ticket was also only like $60 for an unobstructed view, and I think it was worth the price.

Go read the play if you couldn’t see it! I think it’s a very compelling one.

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