THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE – Written by Martin McDonagh; Directed by Christin Martin. Produced by Invictus Theatre Company of Denver (Presented at the People’s Building, 9995 East Colfax, Aurora) through January 26. Tickets available at Thepeoplesbuilding.com/beauty-queen#/productions-view.
On what now seems like a distant time, I took a trip to Ireland. The one thing I absolutely had to do was stand on the quay where my great-grandfather stood before he boarded the ship that brought him to America in 1861. He was from Galway County – the same land that formed the psyche of Martin McDonough, our playwright. I took a bus tour that rode through the landscape of Mag and Maureen. Leenane, Connemara, Inishmaan, Inishmore – how they roll off the tongue and stay in your heart. You sound Irish just saying them.
This is a hard tale for this cast to tell. A reckoning between two angry lonely women – mother and daughter – caught in a web of deceit. The Mam is a domineering vindictive needy ol’ biddy. She seeks to control her daughter Maureen’s life by lying to her, subverting her every attempt to get away and pretending to be a lot sicker than she actually is. Maureen, on the other hand, has returned from service in England to care for her because her other sisters won’t. She is lonely and bored to the point of distraction. A chance meeting with an old boyfriend gives Maureen a path out of her misery until Mag manages to sabotage everything with disastrous results.
The cast of four makes the most of this compelling story with a wholehearted determination to see it through. Linda Suttle as Mag is such a convincing bitch that you must wonder what her married life and mothering years must have been like for her family. She destroys her daughter’s future without thinking about the consequences. Because by this time, we have gathered the information that Maureen too – played by Miranda Byers – is one leaf short of a four-leaf clover. She can seem normal, but there is a rage boiling under the surface just waiting to flare.
The men in the cast are Maureen’s lifeline, Pato Dooley – played by Andrew Catterall – a local boy home for a short visit from his work in England. A spark is re-lit between them that is both sweet and sorry to watch. Andrew has a monologue in Act II that allows him to pour his heart out to Maureen in a letter that is heart-wrenching to watch. The more minor but absolutely crucial role of Ray Dooley is given an authentic and humorous life by Fabian Vasquez. He is both impatient and helpful – a true but reluctant neighbor. It’s lovely to see how all four of these excellent actors slide into their Irish personas and speech patterns. Kudo’s to Jeffrey Parker, their dialect coach.
Only very small observations – the People’s Building’s acting space can be vast or intimate depending on how you use it. It seemed the cramped existence of the women inhabiting the cottage could have been better illustrated with a smaller tighter set. The same pieces used – just pushed together a little more to diminish the world they lived in. An opening in the upstage wall with a light backstage created a distraction every time it was used as an exit or entrance during blackouts between scenes. But all the necessary things were there for this authentic picture of Irish life – Kimberly biscuits, Complan, porridge, a working fireplace, a realistic hot stove, and an old TV. It seems that Director Christin Martin, her husband Jeffrey, and their Stage Manager Selena Nauhoff did yeoman’s work in putting all the pieces together. The teamwork paid off.
It’s a disturbing episode that turns horrifying, yet, in spite of everything, you can’t help but feel sorry for these desperate people. It’s a very short run—get on it, folks!!
A WOW factor of 8!!