The Playgoer: Genet's he said/she said?

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Monday, April 24, 2006

Genet's he said/she said?

The Genet estate now doesn't want men playing "The Maids," even though there definitely has been plenty of precedent. And even an assumption Genet wanted it that way!

Or maybe they just don't want the Cocteau Rep doing it that way. This production--which originated with their new co-producers, New Orleans' Ego-Po--has been playing in rep with the Cocteau's more "traditional" female version. I'm relieved to discover this latter one is not the unfortunate production I sat through at the Cocteau just last summer. If only the Genet estate had that, they would know which one to ban.

1 comment:

Andrew said...

Strange. The Theatermania article makes it seem that it was the change in the play's location--from bedroom to prison--that was the cause of the problem. It sounds like an odd legal thing, though, because I saw this version at the Barbican a couple of years ago , which was also set in a prison (and had a whirling dervish, to boot).