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Kip Williams' “The Maids” Uses Smartphones, Critics Decry Shallowness

5/27/2026

27 5 Full Breakdown

Summary

Story summary

Kip Williams directs The Maids at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, running May 17 through June 14.
The three-person cast—Yerin Ha, Lydia Wilson and Phia Saban—uses smartphones that livestream onto upstage screens that double as mirrored closet walls.
Critics call the visually inventive production shallow because brand references like Balenciaga glasses, Ozempic and “Jonathan for Dior” bag and repeated Snapchat filters distract from Genet’s themes.

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Story summary

Kip Williams directs The Maids at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn, running May 17 through June 14.
The three-person cast—Yerin Ha, Lydia Wilson and Phia Saban—uses smartphones that livestream onto upstage screens that double as mirrored closet walls.
Critics call the visually inventive production shallow because brand references like Balenciaga glasses, Ozempic and “Jonathan for Dior” bag and repeated Snapchat filters distract from Genet’s themes.