Writers' Theatre: "The Maids"

Where: Writers' Theatre

Start Date & Time: November 18, 2008 at 07:30 PM
End Date & Time: April 05, 2009 at 06:00 PM

Event Details:

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.

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 and Wednesdays: 7:30 p.m.
Thursdays and Fridays: 8 p.m.  
Saturdays: 4 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Sundays: 2 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Wednesday Matinees: 2 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

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.