If theatre is to be judged on innovation and pushing the boundaries, then The Maids is a superlative piece. Starring Cate Blanchett, France’s Isabelle Huppert and rising star Elizabeth Debicki, the season sold out quickly in what was anticipated as of one of the highlights of Sydney’s 2013 theatre calendar.

Benedict Andrews was given the responsibility of adapting Genet’s classic play. One of Australia’s most controversial and sought-after directors, Andrews has been heralded by critics as a “maverick”  of the stage – other recent plays have included The Seagull and The City.

The Maids is the work of legendary French dramatist Jean Genet and was first performed in 1947. Juan Goytisolo, friend and Spanish novelist once said of Genet, “There are two types of writer. There is Genet and there is the rest of the world.”

The foreboding story depicts two sisters, Solange (Huppert) and Claire (Blanchett) – servants in an upper-class home, who engage in a “ceremony” while their mistress (Debicki) is out. They assume roles, Claire as the Mistress and Solange as Claire, and work through a series of scenarios before reaching their ultimate goal, to strangle their mistress.

It’s a well-rehearsed procedure; they both know the rules of the game and the words...