There has always existed a certain kinship between the spirit of Eastern theater and that of Jean Genet. In the plays written after 1955, however, this affinity becomes much more evident. There is a sharp difference between the visual simplicity, for example, of Deathwatch and The Maids and the richness of later plays like The Balcony, The Blacks, and The Screens.

The appearance of monsters, masks, exaggerated costumes, music, the stress on ritual and ceremony, all indicate a fundamental change in technique. The Balcony, The Blacks, and The Screens show the triumphant use of Oriental theatrical devices which, consciously or unconsciously, Genet has appropriated and made peculiarly his own, transforming them in a way that is meaningful and effective within the framework of Western drama.

While the decors of the early plays are meant to suggest solid masonry, stone, or Louis XV frills and lace, The Balcony's set...