THEATRE REVIEW: BY KELLY KERWIN
Dorset, VT– Sunday, June 23, 2024

You can do anything in life, but you can’t do everything. Maureen—the long-suffering daughter of a hanger-on mother—just wants to do something, whatever really. She’s become stuck in a cycle of caring for her sponge of a mother and tending to the ramshackle house where they spend their days. Mother Mag, on the other hand, seems just fine plopped on a lumpy recliner. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a whizbang of a family drama by Martin McDonagh—perhaps the most successful Irish playwright/screenwriter alive (his recent film, The Banshees of Inisherin, was nominated for nine Academy Awards). This play premiered in Ireland in 1996 to great acclaim and went on to a successful Broadway run with four Tony wins. Like much of McDonagh’s work, this play is a fast-paced dive into a sliver of small-town Irish life. The plot structure is so well-crafted it’s nearly mathematical, and there’s a tonal whiplash where humor turns to horror on a dime. 

Suffice to say, it takes a lot of talent, gumption, and guts to put on a good production of a McDonagh play (those accents alone!). Dorset Theatre Festival rises to the occasion and then some with the help of Teresa Rebeck’s powerful direction and an excellent acting ensemble. David Mason, unassuming and charming, nearly steals the show with his recitation of a critical letter. Eimhin Fitzgerald Doherty physically embodies the put-upon teenager he plays so well that one hardly blinks when he starts stuffing his mouth with stale cookies. The two actresses at the center, though, take the production into the stratosphere.  Maxine Linehan, making her Dorset Theatre Festival debut, embodies Maureen as simultaneously fragile yet strong, naïve yet shrewd, insecure yet determined. She’s able to convey Maureen’s deep longing through her eyes alone. Her sparring partner mother is masterful Kristine Nielsen, a Broadway veteran, who gives a tour-de-force portrayal of Mag. She vacillates between pitiful housecat and conniving fiend as she reaches out her grubby hands for cookies. Watching these two women go head-to-head is an event that should not be missed.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane takes place entirely in a dilapidated house (hauntingly designed by Christopher and Justin Swader). It’s the early 1990s and here in Leenane there’s not much to do other than work, gossip, and sit. Mag nags Maureen for round-the-clock care (rather: attention) while also taking any opportunity to sprinkle on some shame. She is sitting pretty and endeavors to keep Maureen kept. Maureen finds little ways of getting revenge like serving nutrient-dense sludge in place of shortbread cookies. Think Grey Gardens but more dangerous. 

When a teenaged neighbor (Doherty) comes by with an invitation to a party, Mag promises to pass along the details to Maureen. Unsurprisingly, she swiftly lights the paper on fire. Maureen manages to find out anyway, punishes her duplicitous mother with a mug of nasty chicken slop, and dashes to the party in her one nice dress (the thoughtfully musky costumes are by Fabian Fidel Aguilar). When Mag awakens the next morning, she’s shocked to find a local construction worker (Mason) has spent the night with Maureen. And worse, Maureen is parading around in her underthings! Now she’s done it. 

Rebeck—Broadway’s most-produced female playwright—directs the fantastic cast with an assured hand and a keen eye for detail. While McDonough continuously raises the stakes with his signature wit, Rebeck maneuvers the two women in a bitter endgame. Nielsen’s Mag can’t help but pour salt on Maureen’s wounds until she mistakenly lets something slip. Oops. The tension in the room becomes hot. Faces get red. A pot on the stove boils. What happens next starts a chain reaction full of surprising twists.

This delightful revival at Dorset Theatre Festival is funny and fearless. The experience of watching The Beauty Queen of Leenane is equal parts pleasurable and hazardous, which is to say the production is quintessential Martin McDonogh. I left the Playhouse feeling like I witnessed the true source material behind a taboo Irish myth. Dorset Theater Festival smartly slotted Beauty Queen as the season opener—assuredly setting a high bar for what looks to be a terrific summer of thoughtful, engaging, and inspired productions.  

Tickets and subscription packages are available now. The box office may be reached by calling (802) 867-2223 ext. 101, Wednesday through Saturday, 12:00 – 6:00 PM, and Sunday 12:00 - 4:00 PM. For more information, or to purchase subscriptions and tickets online, visit www.dorsettheatrefestival.org.