The Maids Thesis Show Review

Commencing last Thursday evening, March 5, and concluding with a completely sold out Black Box theatre showing on Saturday, March 7, Reed students were clambering (and sneaking in) for seats at this year's spring thesis showcase. The performances included the Maids, directed by Dante Tirado Morales ’26 and Siren Songs, directed by Lily Olcott ’26. 

The Maids 

Originally written by Jean Genet, the play most prominently featured Solange, played by Annie Strom ’29 (she/her), and Claire, played by Maddox Isaí Robles ’29 (they/she). The thorough and beautiful work by the costume and technical department was apparent throughout, and transported audiences into the world Morales evidently poured their heart into. 

The Maids came with many unexpected surprises. The first came early on in the production in a scene in which Solange was dressing Claire in formal clothes. Although many were misled to believe the Robles was Madame and Strom was playing the maid who served her, it was soon revealed to the audience that the two were housemaids and sisters, who, while their actual Madame was out, roleplayed in her clothes. To pull this off required a significant range that both Strom and Robles’ acting prowess delivered with ease. 

These moments of roleplay became increasingly intense throughout the play, necessitating equally increasingly emotional acting from both Strom and Robles. The two sisters reveled in their hatred of their Madame and soon the production transformed as the two hatched a plot to kill their mistress.

The second reveal occurred as soon as Taylor Chantel-Cherry ’28 stepped onstage as the Madame, and Morales’ intention as a director was realized to audiences. Although domestic help has been historically and is largely the work of people of color, the play swapped that dynamic and recontextualized everyone’s performance. The maids’ murder plot could no longer be supported by audiences without the very real acknowledgment that they both probably resented their Madame, not just due to her social status, but due to her status as a black woman above them.

Solange and Claire calling the Madame “vicious” and “disgusting” carried a new meaning. After Chantel-Cherry’s brilliant performance, one could not help but ask if this production made any audience members too uncomfortable. For instance, Solange and Claire’s roleplay went so far as to roleplay whipping their Madame. 
Both Morales’ “Brown Director’s Note” and Morgan Baker’s ’26 Dramaturg’s Note dispute typical conceptions of comfort. The Maids broke contemporary theatre etiquette by choosing to not include content warnings before or alongside the production. Considering the play contained scenes of desire to commit racial violence, suicidal ideation, and actual acted-out suicide, there is room to discuss the benefits and harms of this approach to theatre. However, the team behind The Maids also forgoed the typical ending with bows, instead playing a slideshow of domestic helpers, all people of color. These subversions of theatre were evidently first and foremost artistic choices done specifically to remind audiences that race and class could not be detached. Morales asked audiences to “fuck comfort,” since “it is only through discomfort that people grow.” Overall, Morales delivered an impactful, thought provoking production that definitely made me uncomfortable.