Rooftop Productions, Not The Maids, 2017. Photo: Ivor Houlker
Rooftop Productions, Not The Maids, 2017. Photo: Ivor Houlker
Rooftop Productions
Song Theatre

Not The Maids

Behind a monthly salary of $4310, she is much more...
11–13 Aug 2017

Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre Cultural Activities Hall

1 hour 30 minutes

Hong Kong has nearly 350,000 foreign domestic workers. On Sundays you can see them in public squares and parks; a street view unique to this city. These ‘maids’ flew from their homes to work in another home. Each week they work for six days performing household chores, taking care of children and the elderly. For one day a week, they are guitarists, photographers, rugby players… themselves.

‘Maid’, ‘Helper’, ‘Foreign Domestic Worker’… Apart from these names, how much do we really understand ‘them’?

More information

Dates & Tickets

Dates

11–13 Aug 2017
Fri – Sun
12:00

Duration

1 hour 30 minutes

Ticket Prices

Audience Information

Language

In English and Cantonese, surtitled in both languages.

Ticket Reminders

Free Seating, no refunds after confirmation.

The show lasts for around 90 minutes, please stay for our post-show talk.

Latecomers will not be admitted.

All rights reserved by Rooftop Productions Ltd.

Venue

Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre Cultural Activities Hall

3/F, Ngau Chi Wan Municipal Services Building, 11 Clear Water Bay Road, Kowloon

Ngau Chi Wan Civic Centre Cultural Activities Hall
View map

Getting there

5 minutes from Ngau Chi Wan Station, Exit B.

Creative and Production Team

Directors

Collaborating Actors

Lighting Designer

Stage Manager

Promotion Photographer

Special thanks to Pants Theatre Production.

Awards & Recognition

Awards and recognition for shows or achievemenets

Nominated for

Performance of the Year

IATC (HK) Critics Awards 2017

Nominated for

Best Script

10th Hong Kong Theatre Libre (2017-2018)

Nominated for

Best Director

10th Hong Kong Theatre Libre (2017-2018)

Nominated for

Best Performance

10th Hong Kong Theatre Libre (2017-2018)

What Critics Say

Quotes from reviews and articles about us and our shows

Directors' Notes

The starting point for the form came from Genet’s text The Maids, whose multiple layers of roleplaying gave us an insight into how to go about putting such a complex topic and a variety of different voices on stage. Thinking of ‘employer,’ ‘domestic worker,’ ‘agent’ etc. as ‘roles’ which are fulfilled by individuals rather than inherent traits of those individuals is an important part of our critical approach to interview texts.

“You really become that person, you put on the uniform and you act the part.” - Guard Interview, Stanford Prison Experiment

This coherence of this approach was reinforced by our reading into the Stanford Prison Experiment as a way of dealing with the question of abuse.

As always with our shows, objects and sound play an important role. In Not The Maids, these follow the pattern of juxtaposing high and low status, kitchen and kitsch. We are particularly inspired by Tadeusz Kantor’s work on bio-objects, and our approach to character begins from this angle.

Our approach has involved simultaneously writing, devising, experimenting and then going back to write again. We realised early on that simply illustrating the stories we heard in our interviews was a waste of theatrical space. We had to find ways of adding layers of meaning that were not simple repetitions of the interview content, but contained our own reception of the stories’ encoded meaning.

We turned to Brecht’s ideas around gestus for guidance, creating tableaux and situations exemplifying social power relationships. These began from our own experiences in research, such as employers providing drinks for us but not the domestic worker in interviews. This also forced us to confront our own roles as interpreters of information, and our privilege/responsibility in disseminating it.

We would like to thanks all our interviewees and their families, also to our collaborators, for the questions they have answered and the questions they have asked.

About the Artists

Learn more about everyone involved in the production

Ivor Houlker, actor and director. Photo: Ivor Houlker

Ivor Houlker

Ivor Houlker is a multidisciplinary theatre artist, who works internationally as a director, actor, musician, and programmer.

Director
Promotion Photographer
When I used this pot today, I found that it was mouldy

Michelle Li

Michelle Li is an interdisciplinary performer and theatre practitioner in Hong Kong. She has created site-specific theatre works in the UK, Greece, and Sicily, and continues to develop her performing and creative career locally, working as a producer, director, performer, and designer.

Director
Collaborating Actor
There are people who are willing to help.

Russell Terre Aranza

Russell Terre Aranza is a Filipina artist, who was born and raised in Hong Kong. Her distinguished performances included Theatre Noir’s 13 The Musical, Rooftop Productions’ Not the Maids, and Dialogues of Oceanus Collaborative Workshop’s A Tidal Home, which was Aranza’s trilingual (English, Tagalog, Cantonese) debut performance.

Collaborating Actor
And that Fair Employment Agency you just told me about? Introduce it to me!

Isabella Leung

Isabella Leung graduated from the University of Manchester with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Drama. She has been Resident Actress in Theatre Noir Foundation. She is currently working as a freelance actress, director, drama tutor and playwright.

Collaborating Actor
Rooftop Productions, Not The Maids, 2017. Photo: Ivor Houlker

Karen C. Siu

Karen C. Siu graduated from the Raffles College of Design and Commerce with a BSc in Graphic Design. She is currently working as a freelance graphic designer, theatre actress and singer-musician.

Collaborating Actor
lai-bie-key-visual

Lai Bie

Lai graduated from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, majoring in Theatre Lighting Design. Her recent theatre work includes: Contemporary Musiking Hong Kong _Many Visions of Many Cosmos: Olivier Messsiaen's Vision de l'amen_; HKREP _The Invisible Men_; HerStory Polygon _Floating on 432Hz_; On & On Theatre Workshop _Je Tremble_.

Lighting Designer

Ray Wong

Now a freelance stage worker, Ray Wong has held various positions in stage productions.

Stage Manager