The Maids

Genet loosely based his play on the infamous sisters Christine and Léa Papin, who brutally murdered their employer and her daughter in Le Mans, France, in 1933.

The maids' deliberate pace, their emotionally-charged arguments, and their devotion to detail guarantee that they always fail to actualize their fantasies of ceremoniously "killing" Madame at the ritual's dénouement with unexpected consequences.

The production subsequently transferred to the Royal Court Theatre, where Betty Stockfeld played Madame and David de Bethel provided the scenic design.

[8] The play was revived in London at the Greenwich Theatre in 1973 with the actresses Vivien Merchant as Madame, Glenda Jackson as Solange and Susannah York as Claire.

In his Chicago Reader review, Albert Williams writes: "Genet deliberately sought to invoke the sense of ceremony expressed in (as he wrote to his publisher) 'the sacrifice of the Mass'...the endless shifting of roles among the women, and the patent artificiality of the female impersonation are the poetic means by which the playwright explores his themes..."[11] In Canada, a 2011 production at Buddies in Bad Times in Toronto, Ontario, used female and male casting, with the roles of Solange and Claire played by Diane D'Aquila and Ron Kennell.

[14] Andrews employed contemporary devices that combined theatre with film in his use of video cameras, stylized choreography, popular “underground” music soundtracks,[15] liberal use of profanity, and cultural modernization such as off handed comments from the Mistress on her dresses: "McQueen designed it for me.

"[16] In 2016 a production starring Uzo Aduba and Zawe Ashton as Solange and Claire, and Laura Carmichael as Mistress, was directed by Jamie Lloyd and performed at Trafalgar Studios in London.

[18] In Australia, a 2021 production starring Marta Dusseldorp and Essie Davis as Solange and Claire, and Stephanie Jack as Mistress, was directed by Ben Winspear and performed at The Playhouse Theatre in Hobart.