Love and loyalty collide beautifully in Jamie Lloyd's The Maids

Best bit: The performances by Uzo Abuba and Zawe Ashton are outstanding and almost make your hairs stand on end.

Any boring bits? I would like to have seen more scenes with Mistress to help break up the often monologue-esque scenes with just Claire and Solange. As actors they let their talent soar but as an audience member they can become tiresome, especially in the confined seating of the Trafalgar Studios.

Who would like it? Anyone familiar with Genet's original play will be thrilled by this new, modern version. Fans of all three actors will enjoy seeing them taking their talents to new heights in this bold production. And those with an interest in intense, psychological dramas will be in their element.

Who wouldn't like it? Those looking for a more traditional story with the usual narrative conventions and swiftly-moving plot may find it confusing, if not a bit boring too.

Morning after effect: Wondering how on earth Abuba and Ashton could remember all the lines required to helm an almost two-hour, no-interval play!

Verdict: Four stars out of five

Jamie Lloyd’s production of Jean Genet’s psychological thriller, The Maids, hits you square in the face like an assault. It’s raw, explicit, very provocative, and challenges its three-woman rising star cast to leap outside of their usual acting comfort zones. This is something Laura Carmichael, Uzo Abuba and Zawe Ashton do exceptionally well, and all three of their performances are the stuff awards are made of. Abuba and Ashton command the stage for the bulk of the production and, with the minimal set design, it’s left to their own talent and interpersonal dynamic to keep the audience engaged.

We are first introduced to their characters Solange (Abuba) and Claire (Ashton) when the thudding electro music stops and the stage lights flick on, revealing an almost mirror-effect backdrop where we look directly onto another section of seated audience. Pink petals pour from the roof onto the shoulders of the two actresses, soon flooding the floor. The set, designed by Soutra Gilmour, is a Victorian-style sideless box with gleaming wooden flooring and unforgivingly bright lights.

In this opening scene, Claire is dressed in a dramatic black gown and role-playing the part of Mistress (Carmichael) who, we soon find out, isn’t a very nice person. The two sisters’ relationship seems to have become quite confused by their enforced proximity, both spatial and emotional. Though they take turns pretending to be and kill Mistress, sometimes the lines between play and reality become blurred. We begin to feel that like they both resent and are dependent on Mistress, that this is how they feel about each other too.

Unfortunately the script doesn’t give us much background on how they came to work there, or what their relationship was like beforehand, though any questions I may have had are completely usurped by the incredible performances Ashton and Abuba bring to the Trafalgar Studios. It really is amazing to see them strut and tumble about on the stage, often in skyscraper heels, for well on two hours without pause. It’s like watching an Olympic athlete perform, or prima ballerina dance. Their enormous talent fills the studio and the audience’s awe is almost palpable.

The play ends almost as abruptly as it began, leaving me needing a few minutes to gather my thoughts and try understand what I’d just seen (and of course let the blood return to my rear which has spent two hours fixed to the Trafalgar Studios very unpleasant seating). Petals and sweat cling to the brightly-lit stage like the aftermath of a London Fashion Week runway show, which coincidentally, also occurred during previews.

Lloyd’s production of The Maids is a tour de force of theatre, but you will most likely either find yourself entranced or repulsed. One thing is certain though - his choice of A-list casting, the touches of high-end fashion and the youthful injection of pulsating music will have the usual West End crowd flanked by a brand new breed of theatre consumer.

Reviewed by Wendy van de Weg

Thursday 25th February 2016
Trafalgar Studios, London
Find me on Twitter: @_londontheatre_

View our show pages for more information about The Maids, Trafalgar Studios 1.