Genet drew the plot of “The Maids” from a 1933 tabloid murder: Christine and Léa Papin, maids in Le Mans, killed their mistress and her daughter. But Genet transformed this true crime into a drama filled with unreliable narrators and sinister charades. Claire and Solange enact a dress-up ritual in which they rehearse killing their mistress until it looks as though they will be caught. To save her sister, Solange (pretending to be Claire) poisons Claire (pretending to be Madame).