Playing ‘the Maids’

Filmed on tour in Wales in 2015, this critically acclaimed intercultural performance piece is being shared with audiences worldwide.

‘…a dazzling intercultural collaboration…[the] cast…imbue the performance space with a concentrated energy that is utterly riveting…’

‘an intercultural ‘collaboration…[of] rare complexity, beauty and conviction’…’an aesthetic feast from the belly’…’stunning’ performances’

—Denis Lennon, The Public Review, February 2015

‘…wonderfully self aware…fearless…experimentation with style and form…’

—Chelsey Gillard, Arts Scene in Wales, March 2015

Best Ensemble Nomination at Wales Theatre Awards 2016

These sharings of playing ‘the maids’ are dedicated to the memory of our long-term collaborator and treasured friend Phillip Zarrilli, internationally renowned director, actor, actor-trainer, theatre scholar, and teacher, who quietly ‘stepped out’ earlier this year. Phillip Zarrilli directed this intercultural collaborative response to the hierarchy and dynamics of power and ‘servitude’ explored in Jean Genet’s modernist classic ‘The Maids’.

Kaite O’Reilly, Phillip’s partner in life and in artistic creation, assured us that Phillip would approve of proceeds from ticket sales going to support the work of those in the hospice that made his end of life ‘good’, and thus, all proceeds will be donated to Hospiscare, Exeter, UK.

Further to the piece:

playing ‘the maids’ is a dynamic meta-theatrical montage of devised spoken text (primarily English with some Mandarin, Korean and Irish), psychophysical scores, choreography and live sound composition realized by an international ensemble of seven artists from four small countries working with Kaite O’Reilly (playwright/dramaturg) and Phillip Zarrilli (director). Sound artist (Mick O’Shea) and cellist (Adrian Curtain) respond to and interact with five female performers throughout the performance: a Chinese ‘madame’ (Jing Hong Okorn-Kuo) and two sets of ‘sister-maids’ (one Irish: Bernadette Cronin/Regina Crowley; one Korean: Jeungsook Yoo/Sunhee Kim).

This multi-disciplinary performance was created between languages, cultures, and art forms to address issues of power/oppression embedded in complex human relationships — social and familial. Initially inspired by Genet’s The Maids (1947) and its three figures – madame and her two sister-maids – our production is not a performance of Genet’s play. We have re-imagined and re-made the source as a multi-disciplinary response to the hierarchy and dynamics of power and ‘servitude’ from the unique social, cultural, aesthetic and artistic perspectives of the creative team.

For tickets to the showing in GMT: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/playing-the-maids-gmt-tickets-130261480595?aff=ebdssbonlinesearch

For tickets to the showing in India Time: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/playing-the-maids-india-time-tickets-130728555629

For tickets to the showing in Singapore Time: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/playing-the-maids-singapore-time-tickets-130265358193

For tickets to the showing in US Central Standard Time: https://www.eventbrite.ie/e/playing-the-maids-america-cst-tickets-130728964853