"moving, intense and ... demanding"

August 8, 2003 performance reviewed by Pat Nichols

Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane, at the Main Street Stage in North Adams, exposes life in a small village in Connemara, Ireland, a difficult life for both Mag Folan and her daughter Maureen.

Directed by Frank LaFrazia, with set designed by Jack Donahue, the opening scene takes the audience in the tiny theatre right into the kitchen in Mag's home, right into the middle of a difficult mother/daughter relationship. A table holds center stage, a stove to the left, a TV prominently displayed and a rocker where Mag spends her days staring at the TV and complaining.

Maureen, 40ish and still a virgin, has returned from time spent in England in a low salaried job, to live with and care for her mother. Hints of a nervous breakdown and time spent in an institution float around.

The mother and daughter argue, the daughter slams cabinet doors as she prepares her mother's porridge while her mother relentlessly verbally assaults her.

Ray Dooley appears to invite them to a party for his brother who is leaving for America. There Maureen meets up with Pato Dooley, Roy's older brother, back from England for the party. He brings Maureen home which distresses Mag. He gently refers to Maureen as "The Beauty Queen of Leenane."

The actors handle the Irish accents wonderfully well thanks to dialect coach Janis Young, and the language has its own lyricism, not unexpected if you know any real Irish.

Ruth K. Duncan masterfully portrays Mag as the nagging, manipulative mother who puts her daughter through wrenching emotional degradation. With a twist of her head or a slight smile, she steers between sweetness and a horrific version of a relentless hag, making such wide diversions absolutely believable. She is magnetizing in her ability to bring Mag to life.

Stephanie Hedges as Maureen Folan, the thin edgy daughter, reveals a lifetime of coping with the mother from hell who is also an elderly woman with no one else to turn to, no one else to care for her. Maureen wants to escape but doesn't know how. When Pato arrives, she begins to think escape and another life exists.

Pato Dooley, as played by Michael Foster, is a kind and understanding man who cares for Maureen despite her mother's revelation that Maureen once suffered a breakdown of serious proportions, He does a fine job of springing Maureen out of her torment for a short period.

Andrew Bemis, as Ray Dooley, unsure of where he going but knowing he wants to get out of Ireland, is an itchy boy/man with no patience but a love of the Kimberley cookies everyone hates. His impatience becomes critical to the story.

The play is heartbreaking at times as the Irish story unfolds with missed opportunities, unrealized hopes and dreams, a story of Ireland itself where its youth leave for better jobs and the country as a whole takes that for granted.

At times gut-wrenching, the play drags the audience into the psyche of the family, at times with humor and at other times with pain and violence, but always with the aim of understanding human nature and those who wrestle with its intricacies.

Don't be put off by the story line. This play is moving, intense and at times demanding but well worth your attention.