Once again I was fortunate enough to be invited to work with Hedgepig Theatre. This time, on their adaptation of The Maids by Jean Genet, a twisted tale of two murderous sisters.
Two sisters plot the murder of their Mistress. But it has to be right. It has to be perfect. Ritual turns to compulsion. Compulsion turns to obsession. Until their world unravels around them.
Hedgepig Theatre’s dark, claustrophobic production combines their trademark flair for storytelling with jarring movement work, live music, innovative visuals and striking design. Genet’s blackly comic play follows the winding paranoias and destructive power plays of two sisters, trapped between their love and hatred of their mistress and each other.
My original plan was to perform the music live, but when time/logistics didn’t allow, I had to come up with another plan.
I recorded lines of dialogue (spoken by ‘Solange’ – Gemma Curry) and manipulated them digitally, splicing it into individual syllables before reordering them, slowing them down and adding a variety of effects. The end result is a disturbing, slow-moving soundscape that I felt matched the claustrophobic atmosphere of Andy Curry’s direction and Kelli Zezulka’s minimalist lighting.
The play toured successfully around York, Leeds, Thirsk then back to York and garnered excellent reviews.