Jean Genet

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‘Love, hate and stench’: Marta Dusseldorp and Essie Davis unite for Genet’s The Maids
In an arts scene upended by the pandemic, two of Australia’s queens of the screen have returned to their theatrical roots

Sarah Aitken

19, Oct, 2021 @4:30 PM

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The Maids review – Genet’s poetry breaks free
Director Lily Sykes comes close to the spirit of Genet’s play when she breaks free from her liberty-taking concept

Clare Brennan

25, Nov, 2018 @8:00 AM

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The Maids review – Jean Genet's would-be murderers set pulses racing
The playwright’s prison time inspires an all-male production that is dazzling, dangerous and captivatingly queasy

Catherine Love

23, Nov, 2018 @12:17 PM

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Reading group: which book about gay life should we read in August?
To mark the 50th anniversary of decriminalisation in the UK, please help choose a novel to mark the occasion. There are hundreds to choose from

Sam Jordison

01, Aug, 2017 @12:53 PM

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Juan Goytisolo obituary
One of Spain’s finest writers who fought against racism and sexism

Michael Eaude

14, Jun, 2017 @11:56 AM

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The Maids review – Katie Mitchell puts Genet's wealth-gap murder story in drag
Jean Genet’s symbolist crime drama seems all too tense and real in this contemporary setting, with a trans victim who forgot to check her privilege

Matt Trueman

20, Dec, 2016 @3:14 PM

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Deathwatch review – Genet's clammily powerful prison struggle
Two prisoners and a condemned man vie for dominion of their cell in a well executed production leavened by fantasy sequences

Michael Billington

14, Apr, 2016 @10:00 PM

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Scene change: the problems with relocating plays
Moving The Maids from France to the US adds a powerful racial subtext to Genet’s original, while Anouilh’s Welcome Home, Captain Fox! fares less well when set in America. Not all plays benefit from gaining a new setting

Mark Lawson

23, Mar, 2016 @11:15 AM

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Uzo Aduba webchat – as it happened
The Orange Is the New Black actor and star of The Maids answered your questions about racial stereotyping on TV, how she gets into character and which underrated talent she wants everyone to know about

07, Mar, 2016 @2:11 PM

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The Maids review – TV star power can’t revive Genet’s murderous romp
Uzo Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael make a striking cast, but the declamatory dialogue is heavy-handed

Susannah Clapp

06, Mar, 2016 @8:00 AM

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The Maids review – Uzo Aduba is ferocious in Genet's lost landmark
Aduba, Zawe Ashton and Laura Carmichael star in Jamie Lloyd’s highly impressive, deeply political production

Michael Billington

01, Mar, 2016 @7:00 AM

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'They looked like such good girls': the mystery of Genet's murderous Maids
Unwomanly monsters, revolutionaries or worms who turned? As Jean Genet’s classic play is revived in London, the macabre story of the Papin sisters, who killed their employer’s wife and daughter, still has the power to perplex

Lyn Gardner

24, Feb, 2016 @8:00 AM

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