“The Domestiques” Extends its Sold-Out Run at New Theatre Hollywood through August 28th
The spellbindingly interchangeable Aviana Glover and Kayla Dobbs with Venus Cobb, starring in the gender fluid “The Domestiques.”
This past June at the Hollywood Fringe Festival, I was delighted to see several original shows that all seemed to bend very pointedly toward absurdism and existentialism—all performed by members of the clown community in an explosion of what can only be described as a clown-centric year for the Fringe. Last night, I was able to check out The Domestiques, a modern, gender-fluid redux of Jean Genet's classic absurdist masterpiece, The Maids. I left the theater feeling quite gratified. What I suspected this past June turns out to be true via this engaging, electric production at New Theatre Hollywood: Theatre of the Absurd is back with a vengeance, delivering a theatrical slap in the face to those who feel that rigid structure makes the play—and, in turn, society.
Written by Venus Cobb and directed by Rory James Leech, The Domestiques is a lavish extravaganza of jealousy, role-playing, and illusion, and to say it’s performed with high energy would be the understatement of the year. Starring Aviana Glover and Kayla Dobbs as the two maids, Clay and Solange, The Domestiques begins to unravel like a puzzle box. Both maids are sisters in the script, and as actors, they double in their roles, with an audience participation game at curtain to decide which actress plays which role. The mind-boggling stage electricity conducted by Glover and Dobbs could power a small city, and their frenetic clown dynamic lies somewhere in between upstairs-downstairs, master and servant, pleasure and pain.
The two maids hate their keepers that they serve, especially the oppressive “Madame” —or at least that’s what we are led to believe, even though they seem to enjoy wearing her clothing and finery with much gusto throughout the opening scene, as though they might want to be her in the end. For whatever reason, the two want “Madame” dead and devise a way to do her in, but a phone call reveals that their attempts at destroying her husband, a Senator, have failed, and he is about to be released from prison. Panic sets in with “Madame” due back any minute, driving the play's rising action. Playwright Cobb, who doubles as the extravagant and elegant “Madame,” delivers an entrance that simply must be witnessed.
Venus Cobb as “Madame” and Aviana Glover as “Solange” in Cobb’s adaptation of Jean Genet’s “The Maids” at New Theatre Hollywood.
The Domestiques, and its insane explosion of high-status/low-status dynamics continue to unravel amidst intrigue, bouts of anger, sexual ambiguity, and domination. But the role-playing game of dress-up comes to a grinding halt when “Madame” discovers that the Senator has been freed. It’s a sobering moment when “Madame,” preparing to leave, looks around the room and quips, “It looks like a room full of debutantes got raptured.” After “Madame” exits, what follows is a continuation of the game, with the two maids teetering on the verge of madness as the play questions what is real and what is not, what is truth, what is fantasy, and what is pure fabrication. Societal norms are shattered as this play’s finale questions whether the evening’s proceedings happened at all —and if you think I’m being purposely ambiguous, you would be correct. It’s an extremely quick 70 minutes, so buy a ticket to this gem and see for yourself.
The Domestiques is miraculously performed by its three stars, and while the game often spins out of control, this cast never does. Aviana Glover and Kayla Dobbs are both fearless masters of their craft, bearing such an uncanny resemblance to one another that it adds to the evening's mind-boggling magic. Amidst the whirlwind physical energy of the two maids, Venus Cobb’s “Madame” is the eye of the hurricane. With a glance, she can move mountains and her controlled performance is so finely tailored that it’s difficult at times to see why she is so loathed by her subjects. A subtle moment “Madame” shares at her boudoir mirror made me particularly grateful to be sitting in the front row. In short, Cobb delivers a masterful performance that leaves you wanting more.
The Domestiques and all its whirlwind chaos, play out on an inviting and delicious set by director Rory James Leech and an incredible creative team, with costumes created as a group effort. Emma McManus’s lighting design heightens Leech’s already radiant, red-dripping set—featuring some exceptional shadowbox antics as well. Leech succeeds not only in encapsulating their audience in a highly detailed, dreamlike playroom, but in mastering the frantic energy of the cast with a keen eye for the theatrical. It is the raw theatricality of The Domestiques that stands on its own: fearless, unapologetic, and full of risks that would leave lesser calibrated casts scrambling. See this show, and if you've never seen a work of the Theatre of the Absurd, I cannot recommend The Domestiques enough. Four gems and three thumbs up.
Extended through August 28th at New Theatre Hollywood (formerly 2nd Stage Theatre), 6500 Santa Monica Blvd. at Wilcox.
***As per the program’s content transparency: “The Domestiques contains violence, sexual content, nudity, death, and bright lights. If you have any questions, please inquire with house management to determine if this show is right for you.”