Today, Writers’ Theatre continues to produce in both spaces, maintaining an intimate theatrical experience for audiences. Since 2000, the subscriber base has grown almost 250%, from 1,500 to more than 5,300 today. With an operating budget of $3.4million, Writers’ Theatre is supported by a staff of 18 full-time employees and a 29-member Board of Trustees.
When the mistress is away, the maids will play. Two women in service to a younger socialite pass the moments of their day in playacting and fantasy. As the line between fantasy and reality begins to disintegrate, their games take a deadly turn. Jealousy, resentment, sexual tension and murder converge in this 1947 classic French thriller. Jimmy McDermott, one of the city’s most exciting young directors, brings his trademark edginess to this seminally rebellious play.
Title: The Maids
Written by: Jean Genet
Translated by: Martin Crimp
Directed by: Associate Artistic Director Jimmy McDermott
Featuring: Elizabeth Laidlaw (Solange), Helen Sadler (Claire) and Niki Lindgren (Madame)
Dates: Performances begin: November 18, 2008
Press opening: December 3 and 4, 2008, at 7:30 p.m.
Closes: April 5, 2009
Schedule: Mondays: 7:30 p.m. on December 22 and 29
Tuesdays & Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays & Fridays: 8:00 p.m.
Saturdays: 4:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.
Sundays: 2:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Wednesday Matinees: 2:00 p.m. on December 10, January 7, February 4, March 11, 18 and April 1
There will be no shows on November 27, December 24, 25, 31, 2008 and January 1, March 10 and 17, 2009.
There will be no Sunday evening shows (6:00 p.m.) on December 14, 2008, and January 11, February 8 and April 5, 2009
Special events: Pre-show lectures: December 7, January 4, 18 and 25, at 5:00 p.m.
Post-show discussions: December 16, 23, January 7, 28, March 24, 25, 31 and April 1
Location: Writers’ Theatre, 664 Vernon Avenue
Tickets for all performances range from $40-$65
Box Office: The Box Office is located at 376 Park Avenue, Glencoe;
847-242-6000; www.writerstheatre.org
• The supposed inspiration for Jean Genet’s The Maids was the infamous case of the Papin sisters. Employed as maids for the Lancelin family, Christine and Lea Papin’s disrepute stemmed from the brutal murder of the family’s mistress and daughter. Their trial and eventual convictions for the crime launched them into an unwelcome limelight for the better half of the 20th century.
• Associated with the Theatre of Cruelty, Genet's plays present stylized depictions of the struggles between outcasts of various kinds and their oppressors. Standard social identities are often parodied in his works and shown to involve complex layering as illustrated through role play. This preoccupation with identity and social position in many ways reflects Genet’s turbulent early childhood; the son of a prostitute, he was given up for adoption at the age of one. By the age of fifteen Genet was detained for petty theft and vagrancy at the Mettray Penal Colony for three years.
• Director Jimmy McDermott’s recent credits include The Frog Prince, A Christmas Carol and The Puppetmaster of Lodz. He was recently named Associate Artistic Director at Writers’. He also frequently directs at the side project theatre company.
• Elizabeth Laidlaw (Solange) owns the Lincoln Square restaurant Chalkboard with her husband. She is the founder and artistic director of Lakeside Shakespeare Theatre in Michigan.
