BFA grad Hannah Wigglesworth set to star in ‘The Maids’

During her time at the University of Alberta, Hannah Wigglesworth and her classmate Julia van Dam did a scene study of the 1947 play The Maids by Jean Genet. Now, it has evolved into a production that will premiere at the Pendennis Building.

Wigglesworth graduated from the U of A with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Acting in 2021. Yet, even after the scene study, her and van Dam still thought of The Maids. They also ruminated on the idea of their former instructor David Kennedy — an associate professor in the department of drama at the U of A — being the one to direct it.

“We were sitting on Julia’s balcony one night, and we had this idea where we just said ‘wouldn’t it be so cool if we could play the maids and David would direct us?'”

Wigglesworth explained they reached out to Kennedy, and he agreed to do the production. Along with their familiarity with Kennedy, Wigglesworth described how her and van Dam’s connection as former classmates was helpful for playing sisters onstage.

“We have such a strong foundation, and we’re so comfortable with each other. I think in a lot of ways we sort of do see each other as family,” she said.

The Maids follows two sisters Solange (Wigglesworth) and Claire (van Dam) who are also maids. While their mistress is away, they perform mysterious rituals that involve role-playing their mistress. The play explores themes of power dynamics, class struggles, the role of women, patriarchal society, and more.

Wigglesworth is both an actor and producer in The Maids

Along with acting in The Maids, Wigglesworth is involved as a producer for the first time. So far this has been a success, she said.

“It’s very difficult. It’s been a learning curve and it’s been really cool, and empowering in a way to have so much agency over the show we’re making.”

While there have been challenges, such as securing funding, she explained that it’s been a rewarding process to see the production come to life.

Wigglesworth also described how the U of A was “instrumental” to developing her techniques as an actor and the play.

“[The play] is happening because Julia was in my class, and we did the class with David. It really feels like this play grew out of that program entirely so I feel really grateful for that,” Wigglesworth said.

The Maids has received funding from the Canada Council for the Arts (CCA), the Edmonton Arts Council (EAC), and a grant from the U of A for Kennedy’s professional development.

In regards to the production, Wigglesworth hopes that people will extract multiple meanings from it, and explore the various themes.

“I think people will walk away from the play with something to talk about [and] something to mull over.”

The Maids will show at the Pendennis Building from October 24 – November 3, with two pay-what-you-can performances.