Carter, Curtis

English

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Marquette Universitye-Publications@MarquettePhilosophy Faculty Research and Publications Philosophy, Department of5-27-1971The Maids, Nick---theatre of the absurd [Reviews ofJean Genet's "The Maids" and Arthur Kopit's "TheQuestioning of Nick" at the Studio Theater,Milwaukee]Curtis CarterMarquette University, curtis.carter@marquette.eduCarter, Curtis. 1971. The Maids, Nick---theatre of the absurd. Bugle American, May 27-June 2, PlaysSection, Vol. 2, No. 20 (No. 33).The M~ids,Nick---theatre. of the absurd By Curtis L. Carter "!Theater of the absurd" has shown us thoughtfulness, introspec-tion, and questioning give rise to a state of being in which a man is no longer able to t:I. ke his habitual, mechanical, routine life~or granted. By asking the question, "Why? ,"one comes to experience a "divorce 'between-the mind that de-sires and the world'that disapPoints,-" as Camus put it. Two one, act plays, Jean Genet's The Maids and Arthur Kopit'sThe Questiming of Nick, performed at, the UWM studio Tpeater,exemplify a sense of absurdity which gives rise to questioning for both charac-ters in the play and for the audience. The absurdity theme is pursued in The Maids by a sort of reversal of values in which good is attacked and evil is positively pursued. This is achieved through a type of ritual-istic "Black Mass;' which is played every 'evening by Solange and Claire, two maids. Soh nge becomes Claire, and Clair~ play s at being Madame, their mistress,· in a play within the play. The ritual consists of steps toward the murder of the hated Madame--only' there is never time to finish her off. The ritual is always interrupted ,b~foteJhe a,ct is canpleted. A mix-hire of hate. subservience ~ and . aggression, together with conventions binding maid and 'mistress, fill out the inner drama. Solange and Claire, two Sisters, both love and loathe Madame, them-selves, and each other. There exists an linlie1'.pfayedhomosexual rela tion-ship involving all three. Actually, Genetintenctedthis '. relationship to be accented by prescribing that the women's roles be played 'by adole's-centbo~~, •. This. was not done in the original patisperformance, or in the Studio Theater performance • The maids and· Madame are fake Wimen portraying a negative ideal of fem-ininity wWchGenet must have hoped would contradict the expectations of most tileater goers, Notonly do the characters avoid any ccmmitments to "reality," but so does the development of the play itself. By the constant shifting fran "events in the lives of the maids" to the drama within the play, the viewer is forewarned not· to attempt to enter into the reality of the play itself. It has none. At the end of the play, the maids' ",play -acting is pushed to its extreme~Through a complex of events, Solange, actirtg as Claire. tries to complete the rituafby \{illing her sister who is playing' Madame. But in the end this' fails, and the only definite ','act" is Claire's sui-cide. Pbssibly, Genet is telling us that'suicide is the only Significant act. that a person is capable .of executing. Bonnie Cavanaugh delivered a noieworth performance as Claire. Her smooth and convincing transition from the roles of, "G:laire i, to "Madame" were skillfully, achieved. Chris Cedarburg as Solange was adequate. She did, not show much variety in her. multiple character roles, and Gerda Furumo was a suitable Madame. ' The performance of "The Maids" began vvell, but lagged to the point of boredom as the maids became themselves, then picked up consid-erably in' the last half. I could not tell for certain whether the boredon was It result oUhe Maids' drab liVeS . or a result of deficient acting and direction. (Way ne Baar directed "rrhe Maids.") '=--$ • • * * Kopit's The Questioning of Nick, the.other play on the program, is set in a circus ring. The. characters, Sergeant Huncbink (clown)"Lieuten-ant Carling (ring master), and Nick Carmonatti (performer) meet in the ring where the questioning is to take place. Underly ing the facade of the circus masks we are apparently wit-nessing the police interrogation of Nick concerning the "throwing" of some sort of game. . But there is much more at stake. Again, . we are asked to relate- to an Albee-Pinter-like use of "absurd, technique" which leads to question-ing and'exploration ofa set of routine experiences. The "ab surdity" is en-_ hanced, perhaps too mechanically, by th€ circus setting. ' Acting in "Nick" generated some of _the dramatic intenSity which the play calls for, but exces-sive volume and a lack of variety in delivery were a detriment to the performance. John Gi'oth ,as Sgt. Prunchink. Hal Erickson as Lt. Carling, and Jim. Gage as Nick Carrnonatti, were' directed by' Michael Durkin. In phy sical appearance all three actors were we)] suited for the parts. Durkin gave the playa light, entertaining reading, but only occasional lydid the underly ing strength ,of the play ernerge in the interplay of' the characters. The set itself, though well done, conveyed so much of circus reallsm that it detracted somewhat from the impact of the play. Accordingly, the p'oduction failed to generate the dramatic depth of interpretation that the play might othe'wise have yielded, The plays will be repeated May 27-30 at the Studio'rheater. 

The Maids, Nick---theatre of the absurd [Reviews of Jean Genet\u27s  The Maids  and Arthur Kopit\u27s  The Questioning of Nick  at the Studio Theater, Milwaukee]

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The Maids, Nick---theatre of the absurd [Reviews of Jean Genet\u27s The Maids and Arthur Kopit\u27s The Questioning of Nick at the Studio Theater, Milwaukee]

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