The Beauty Queen of Leenane

Synopsis

McDonagh's first play. 1996 Writers' Guild Award Winner - Best Fringe Theatre Play. Set in a small cottage in the mountains of Connemara, The Beauty Queen of Leeane tells the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her forties and Mag, her manipulative, ageing mother. When Mag interferes in Maureen's first and possibly final chance of a loving relationship, she sets a chain of events in motion that lead inexorably towards the play's terrifying denouement. Contains scenes of an adult nature.

Our Review:

28 October 2009

Contempt - that’s how they say you can gauge how healthy a relationship is, how long a couple might last. Those trained in the art can detect it from a few snippets of conversation. I wonder what they would make of Maureen Folan (Alice Selwyn) and her mother Mag (Carole Dance) who, for the best part of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, throw nothing but glances of disgust and mean triumph. Martin McDonagh’s award winning script holds no tongues; the pair sparring constantly on every detail of their monotonous lives.

In this County Galway household, Maureen, in her mid-forties, has been left behind by married sisters to care for her ageing mother in a life of near seclusion. Beautifully inane exchanges about the TV, radio and Complan abound, particularly between Mag and the young neighbour Ray (Alan DeVally). The set comprises the Folan’s living room with Mag’s often occupied rocking chair allowing for a distu...

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