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Reputation eludes Network's 'Maids'

Performance Network is well-known throughout the area for being a very innovative and creative theater. However, this description does not prove very accurate for their current production of Jean Genet's "The Maids." Although I have greatly enjoyed past Performance Network productions -- most recently "Famous Orpheus" -- "The Maids" provided a very oppressive and tedious evening.

"The Maids" is a single-set, single-act play based on the lives of two sisters who are the servants for a wealthy older woman. The action of the play revolves around the sisters role-playing the mistress and the servants, and repeatedly rehearsing the daily situations of abuse they supposedly encounter. However, when the "Madame" actually surfaces, it seems that her relationship with the sisters is actually much less harmless than they have imagined.

It is the sisters' overactive imaginations that seem to get the better of them, as well as the play in general. For a disproportionately large part of the play, the sisters speculate over the various ways they could kill their mistress. When their accepted plan of action fails, their disappointment at their continued servitude turns tragic. However, even the death of one of the sisters is never fully realized by the other -- or the audience -- because of the continued existence of the imaginary world of the maids.

The role-playing within the play is at first very intriguing, making it difficult to discern the actual events composing the play. However, the act soon becomes tedious, and the dialogue between the sisters begins to sound very melodramatic.

Additionally, the relationship between the sisters (played by Adrianna Buonarroti and Joanna Woodcock) never seems to fully materialize. Although there are scenes between the maids that hint extreme intimacy -- in all ways possible -- the bond between the actors appeared very weak, and, therefore, the relationship was hard to believe. In one of the few entertaining parts of the play, the Madame was played by a man; Peter Knox turned in a very convincing portrayal as a rich and crotchety older woman.

As the evening went on, the play got extremely tedious for the audience, perhaps illustrating the frustrating monotony of a life of servitude. The amount of yelling and violence on the stage was at times very disconcerting and hard to sit through. Despite Performance Network's reputation, "The Maids" was not up to its caliber of creative and innovative theater pieces.