Philosophy, pleasure and pain: Genet’s The Maids at The Street Theatre

The 1947 play, The Maids (Les Bonnes), sprang from the subversive mind of French novelist, poet playwright Jean Genet (1910 – 1986), one of the most colourful writers of the 20th century. The play – a work “rich in symbolism, philosophy, pleasure and pain” and featuring “dark humour mixed up with a poetic sensibility,” according to The Street Theatre’s CEO and Artistic Director, Caroline Stacey OAM – has been staged and re-staged in theatres around the world countless times following its world premiere at the Théâtre de l’Athénée Paris.