Playereaders: “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”

The Beauty Queen of Leenane at Playreaders

Wednesday and Thursday
April 10 and 11
7:30 pm

St. Paul’s

For the last playreading to be held at St Pauls church, this week Playreaders is offering a chance to see a masterful work by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh: The Beauty Queen of Leenane.

Set in the hills of Connemara, county Galway, this moving play tells the story of Maureen Folan, a plain and lonely woman in her early 40’s whose lot in life is taking care of her aging, manipulative mother, Mag.

A neighbor, Ray Dooley happens by the Folan cottage with an invitation to a goodbye party for some visiting Americans. Maureen is not at home. Her mother Mag tries to prevent Maureen from finding out about the event by burning the invitation. She fails however since Maureen has already been told by Ray whom she met on the road home. Maureen buys a new fetching black dress to wear and the goes without her mother.  At the conclusion of the party she invites Ray’s brother Pato Dooley home to spend the night with her. Since Maureen has only been kissed twice before in life her Pato seems to be her one last chance at love.

Now although Pato hails from Galway, he now spends most of his time in England, since that is where the jobs and money are. He has only briefly returned to Leenane, After the brief encounter with Maureen he must return to work in London.  He promises to write from England….

Thereafter unfolds a plot with faint overtones of Romeo and Juliet, but with a wholly different and surprising outcome.

Martin McDonagh has written other plays set in Galway, also The Pillowman set in a fictitious totalitarian state, and one play A Behanding in Spokane  set in the US. Although his reputation as a playwright is unquestioned he actually says he prefers film as a medium. .  In Bruges is one of his more recent films.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane is one of his trilogy of early plays set in Ireland.  It was greeted with much acclaim at its 1996 premiere in Galway, likewise at performances in London. The subsequent US Broadway production in 1998 won four Tony Awards. It is without doubt a great play.

Our staged reading stars Henrietta Weekes as Maureen Folan and Maggie Bunce as her mother Mag. Mick Diener plays Pato Dooley and Chris Kapilla his brother Ray.

Patrick Green is our technical consultant.  Direction is at the hand of Susan Rushton.

Wednesday April 10 and Thursday April 11 at 7:30 pm, At Paul’s Parish Hall, Cardo #6. 30 psesos.