My Sister in this House

Why This Play Now?

This play is relevant because it shows the damaging effects of repression on the human psyche. On a group scale, the Stonewall riots became violent because the gay community of New York City was tired of being targeted and repressed. In today's political climate, many marginalized groups struggle to find acceptance by those in power. The Black Lives Matter movement is controversial and considered violent by many because in order to get the recognition and equality they desire, members have resorted to some extreme tactics. On a personal level, My Sister in This House shows two women who have been so robbed of their dignity and their free will, and how that drove them to murder. This exemplifies the importance of mental health. Right now, the transgender community is persecuted—they have some of the highest murder rates of any community, and transgender teenage suicide continues to be tragically high. If we had a more accepting culture that celebrated difference instead of attempting to stamp it out or pretend that it doesn't exist, maybe this wouldn't be such a problem. This is something for all people who are in charge—bosses, professors and school administrators, anyone in a position of power can learn that self-care and acknowledging the humanity and needs of people in their care is important. and all people can learn that For a Villanova audience, the story of mental health, especially in terms of overworked students and in a University setting, people encountering different people who may be different from them for the first time is relevant and something that can spark a lot of good discussions.  

Dramaturg's Crack/Thread

As both a true crime enthusiast and a Francophile, My Sister in This House is a play that appeals to me on many levels. I first encountered it in a Women in Literature class during my undergrad, and when I found out it was based on a true story I couldn't resist diving a little bit deeper. Since that time I have heard the story told on a favorite podcast and though I have not yet read Genet's The Maids I learned that it also depicts the Papin sisters. I hope to include some research about that play over the course of my D-File as well. The amount of social commentary Kesselman is able to pack into this cautionary tale with its complex characters while taking the audience along for the ride and ultimately showing empathy for all four of the women on stage despite two being murderers, one being a spoiled brat, and one being an abusive mistress makes for such a juicy play. I love a complicated villain and four complicated villains are even better.  

​Positives

• Mo' pages mo' problems -- Coming in at 67 pages and with only four cast members, My Sister in This House is a play on a relatively manageable scale, rehearsal time-wise. Less people and pages means more time for the actors and director to delve deeply into the psychology of the four deeply complicated characters, and more time for illuminating conversations.

• No Boys Allowed -- My Sister in This House is a story by a woman written for women about women. All four roles get a relatively equal amount of stage time and lines. Men are barely mentioned and are truly irrelevant to the story, but that does not mean that it is a play that doesn't ring true to them too. With issues of class, mental health, incest, violence etc. Kesselman weaves together a biting societal critique with a fascinatingly feminine point of view. 

• Silence on stage -- As the tension rises in the Danzard household, the silence in the theatre becomes more and more deafening. The stage directions and sound effects are set up in such a way that the audience can experience the growing discomfort and can sense the mounting doom, which makes the social critique on the effects of repression all the more effective. By the time the Lutton sisters snap, everyone in the audience is ready to, too. 

• One-set Wonder -- This play takes place in just a few rooms in the Danzard household, meaning that no major scene shifts are necessary during the performance. 

​Negatives

• Good Grief, that's Graphic! -- While it is not shown on stage, My Sister in This House comes to a gruesome end, with a graphic description of the mutilated bodies of Madame and Isabelle Danzard. What is shown on stage is the suggestion of incest between an underage woman and her only slightly older sister. Viewer discretion, or at least a marketing campaign that intrigues potential audiences while still giving them a heads up about the content of the show, is advised. 

• Women on Women -- While it is beneficial to have many and varied representations of women on stage, My Sister in This House depicts four women who do not treat each other with kindness and do not have one another's backs. While this may strengthen Kesselman's point regarding the systematic repression of women of all classes, it does not depict women in a positive light.  

• Clothes make the Woman -- My Sister in This House requires that its characters wear highly specific clothing, which will require a decent amount of research and work either creating or finding by the costume designer. 

• Little Girls -- Lea, Isabelle and Christine are all under the age of 20, with Lea being the youngest at 14 years old. While it's certainly not impossible to find young actresses who can handle the challenge, it's still a lot of lines and heavy subject matter to expect younger people to be able to take on.  

• Simultaneous Scenes -- The one-home set is both a blessing and a curse. There are several instances in the script where scenes happen simultaneously between Lea/Christine and Isabelle/M. Danzard and the audience needs to be able to see and/or hear action occurring in two rooms, at times on different levels of the house at the same time. This presents a design challenge. 

​Questions

• There are several offstage voices heard throughout the show- should these be pre-recorded or is there a benefit to having live actors off-stage? 

• There are a handful of brief moments of song in the play—particularly at the very beginning and the very end. Should there be a singing component to the audition? Does the singing have to sound good? 

• Is there a specific configuration of audience that could be used to the advantage of the production? I.e. would a thrust stage help bring the audience into the tension?  

• Beyond dressing alike, are Christine and Lea physically similar? Does this say anything about their characters? 

• Where can silence be found in the script? Where can the stillness live without making the show boring? What sounds fill the silence? Where, why and when do they break through? 

• How much of the true story of the Papin sisters is necessary for the performers to research? Is it ultimately beneficial or harmful to know more facts about the real-life figures? Is it better to just develop the characters as Kesselman writes them? 

• Should the house be created in a realistic, detailed manner? Should it be more suggestive and fluid? What are the implications of each choice on the storytelling? 

​Audio/Visual Moments

• Audio 

  • Silence -- Silence is this play's biggest dramatic ally. There is not much sound in the scenes, so that whenever there is it comes as a surprise and can be used for delicious dramatic effect. The amount of silence increases as the play progresses. 

  • Scene 11 (55-56) -- Scene 11 occurs in dumb-show. There is absolutely no dialogue, but the sounds that do occur raise the amount of stress and tension in the play significantly. The scene begins with unusually (for this show's soundscape) relaxed, upbeat music which is abruptly cut off once Isabelle is found dancing to it. The sound of incessant, intermittent scrubbing is heard. Then water begins to drip. After a bit more silence (save the water drip), a door slams. Silence. A candy wrapper is crinkled. Silence. All of a sudden, a jarring banging comes from the kitchen. The water drip gets louder. A pout lid is fiddled with and a cabinet slams. Silence. Black out. 

  • The Bell (16, 18, 20, 23, 28, 35, 42, 65) -- Throughout the play, much of which is uncomfortably silent, Madame Danzard rings a tiny little bell at Christine and Lea when she wants something or she is unhappy about something. This contributes to the stressful feeling and the understanding that M. Danzard abuses her maids and treats them as less than human. 

  • Lea -- Lea is the noisiest character in the play. She noisily spills a whole bag of beans on the floor (20) and drops a pitcher which clatters noisily as it hits the kitchen floor. (35) Christine accuses her, "you drop plates, you spill water, you chip cups." (46) 

• Visual 

  • Christine and Lea Lutton stand side by side facing the audience. They are clean, well-kept, and neat. Christine is dressed as a maid with her hair braided to her head and Lea is dressed like a little girl with a long, free braid down her back. 

  • In their bedroom, Christine stares lovingly and longingly at her sister, who is clad only in a sexy chemise.  

  • Christine, wearing her nightgown with her hair flying loose launches herself towards Madame Danzard while Laa, also in sleepwear and with free hair raises a pitcher over Isabelle's head. Black-out. ​​

Echoes/Repetitions/Returnings

• How a servant should be -- The expectations of the servant class are often remarked upon in this play. The photographer commends the girls for being discreet. (38) They are neat, eat very little, don't cost much money, are trust worthy with money, and speak very little. (18) Lea and Christine's, especially Christine's departure from this strict code marks their breaking point.  

• Motherly love (22, 27, 30, 42) -- My Sister in This House has a lot to say about the psychological effect that a mother has on her children. We never meet Lea and Christine's mother but we know that she leeches off her daughters and that she was emotionally abusive to Christine, as she begins to be to Lea by the time the play begins. The other mother/daughter relationship in the play is of course M. Danzard and Isabelle. Isabelle simultaneously seeks her mother's approval and rejects her mother's attempts to control her. 

• Class 

  • Paris vs. Le Mans (8, 27, 29) -- M. Danzard has complicated feelings about Paris. She both envies it and thinks she's better than it. It is a symbol of her status and representative of a class structure that she struggles to maintain her place in. 

  • The Town (47) -- M. Danzard constantly references the women in the town. She compares herself and Isabelle to them and the knowledge that they could be watching them or know whats going in inside the Danzard household drives every decision M. Danzard makes. Even the photographer remarks that the girls should be careful how they conduct themselves because word gets around town quickly. 

• Hands -- Hands keep coming up in different forms. The town is called Le Mans, which is close to the French word "les mains" meaning "the hands." Madame checks Christine's dust work with a pair of white gloves. (28) One of the first interactions we see between Isabelle and her mother is M. Danzard remarking on Isabelle's nails. (11) 

• Violence (26-27, 46, 66) -- Christine loves her sister, but also can' help taking angry outburtsts out on her—forcefully brushing her hair and slamming her into walls. And, of course, the play ends with a brutal murder. 

• Incest (27, 31, 34, 55-57, 58) -- Christine and Lea have a sexual relationship and it colors the entire play, adding to the tension and the theme of repressed sexuality, as incest is a taboo in the world of the play. 

• Names! 

  • Lutton -- In French, "we who struggle" or "we who fight" 

  • Danzard -- A combination of "danger" and "hazard," both in English and in French 

  • Townswomen -- Blanchards (white/blank), Castleneuve (new castle/new money), Richepin, (rich) 

​Concretes

• Pitcher (35, 65) -- Lea drops the pitcher and goes into a panic about how M. Danzard will punish her. At the end of the play she uses it to bludgeon Isabelle. 

• Photograph (36) -- Lea and Christine get their photo taken in the middle of the play. Christine, for all her hot and cold attitudes toward her little sister, she truly loves Lea (too much and in the wrong way) and their too close relationship is referenced when the photographer tells them they're standing too close and then when Christine keeps the photo on their bed. 

• Clothing -- Clothes are a big deal in this play. They are used to represent class distinction and make up a large chunk of what the characters talk about. M. Danzard is constantly nitpicking what her daughter is wearing, comparing her to the women in the town. She becomes vocally upset when she sees Lea wearing a sweater Christine has made, because it is a fine quality. (45) She doesn’t want the town women to see her servants well dressed. Christine herself is known to be an extremely talented seamstress and she makes a whole trunk full of fine underthings for her sister. (33) A certain chemise becomes the symbol of the sisters' sexual relationship, as Lea is wearing it when the two are discovered together at the end of the play. Lea and Christine often match, exemplifying their closeness as sisters and as lovers.