HEDGEPIG Theatre’s spring tour of Jean Genet’s French drama The Maids concludes on home turf in York this week.

The York company’s new adaptation of this 1947 French drama is being staged at The Fleeting Arms, the temporary community arts space set up in a pub in Gillygate.

“The reason we chose there is we wanted to do it in a non-theatre space with practical, rather than theatrical, lighting which we’ll be turning on and off as there’s lots of talk of turning them on and off in the script,” says Hedgepig actress Gemma Sharp, who plays one of the maids of the title.

“When The Fleeting Arms came along as a new opportunity, we thought it’s not quite like a pub space, it’s somewhere between a theatre and a pub room as a pop-up space, so it seemed absolutely perfect, as it’s a lovely art space that can be turned into anything.”

Two sisters, Gemma’s Solange and Anna Rose James’s Claire, are plotting the murder of their mistress, Victoria Delaney’s Madame, in Genet’s blackly comic play.

“Ritual turns to compulsion, compulsion turns to obsession, until their world unravels around them,” says director Andy Curry.

“Genet follows the winding paranoias and destructive power plays of two sisters, trapped between their love and hatred of their mistress and each other, and our dark, claustrophobic production combines our trademark flair for storytelling with jarring movement work, live music, innovative visuals and striking design.”

To bring all this to fruition, Curry is accompanied in the Hedgepig production team by costume designer Julia Smith, lighting designer Kelli Zezulka, filmmaker Mike Ritchie, composer Alexander King and movement director Sarah Cotterill.

Gemma has wanted to stage Genet’s play ever since her shared student days with Anna.

“It’s Genet’s best-known work and the only reason I know about it is that both Anna and I studied at York St John University when we were introduced to the play,” she says. “I first suggested the play to Mooted Theatre but they had another play in mind at the time.”

Later, when discussing with Andy Curry the possibility of doing a “quite visceral, quite violent re-write of Strindberg’s Miss Julie”, her thoughts then turned again to The Maids.

“The more I thought about it, the more I thought it would be good for Hedgepig to do something, a new version of The Maids, rather than rewriting our Miss Julie show.”

Gemma also was struck by the possibilities presented by doing the production with Anna. “We look alike; we’re both dark and of a similar height; and then I thought of the most glamorous person to play Madame: Vic!”

Victoria needed no persuading. “None at all. I just saw the headlines. French play. Crazy people. Would you like to play a crazy Madame? Er, yes. Tick. Tick. Tick,” she enthuses. “It’s lovely when a play comes into your lap, and working with Gemma and Anna, what a treat, as we’ve all worked together before and we trust each other’s choices.”

The translation of Genet’s text is direct, intense, fast-paced, yet wordy, all conveying the madness in the characters, especially the maids. “They’re grotesques. They’re not likeable people at all,” says Gemma. “It’s written almost as stream of consciousness. It’s unfiltered, so they say whatever comes into their heads, and the maids operate in three worlds: the fantasy world of killing their mistress; their world as themselves; and their world as their subservient selves when they’re with Madame.

“So we’ve brought Sarah Cotterill in to work on physicality and movement, and there’s now more movement and physicality than we’ve ever had in our plays before. I wouldn’t call it physical theatre, but it’s painful.”

Victoria, meanwhile, is in her element as Madame. “She’s fascinating. I have full allowance to be as crazy as I want because she’s so rich and doesn’t need to aspire to anything,” she says. “She has nothing to aim for; she’s been given it all, and sometimes that can drive you crazy, so she’s really fun to play.”

• Hedgepig Theatre presents The Maids at The Fleeting Arms, Gillygate, York, tonight at 8pm and tomorrow at 2pm and 8pm. Tickets are still available but advance booking is advised on 01904 623568, at yorktheatreroyal.co.uk or via facebook.com/fleetingarmsyork. Please note: this production is not suitable for younger children.