Imagine being born during or just after World War II in occupied Ireland. The future for your children is emigrating to England, where they are low-paid, unskilled labor, often subject to degradation by the self-appointed superior British working class. That is life in County Galway.
County Galway is where Martin McDonagh set what turned out to be his first hit play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane. The Maryland Ensemble Theatre resurrects the work, which debuted in 1996, as a pitch-black comedy. There are a few laughs early in the work as a lonely middle-aged daughter and her manipulative ailing mother trade jabs. Funny lines are soon replaced by gloom, tragedy, and suffering.
McDonagh wrote the play so that Maureen (Gené Fouché), the daughter, and Mag the mother Mag (Julie Herber) are both protagonist and antagonist. They are outstanding actors and play the roles so that the audience can despise the characters at times and sympathize with them at other times.
It’s a dysfunctional relationship that Fouché and Herber draw the audience into with the help of McDonagh’s writing, which covers up as much as it reveals. The plot addresses different types of abuse directly and indirectly. To say more would give away the story. The play includes misdirection, surprises, and a full-circle ending.
Mother and daughter grouse with talk of Complan, a British mix-at-home food supplement, porridge, pouring “u-rine” in the sink, and who is the more troublesome to the other. It’s hard to know who’s the victim and who’s the bully here. They seem to be driving each other crazy.
Maureen had a breakdown 25 years earlier, working in England. Mother brings it up, with documentation, the morning after 40-year-old Mag loses her virginity to Pato Dooley (Bill Dennison). Mum just wants Pato to know what he might be getting into with the doolally-crazy daughter of hers. This happens while Maureen is sitting in a slip and bra on Pato’s lap attempting to get him started for another trip. Mag is sitting in her rocker a few feet away and has had enough. Just your typical dysfunctional family.
Pato is the closest to a decent human being in the script.
Willem Rogers is cast as Ray Dooley, a 15-year-old punk who cannot be trusted for anything. He holds a decade-long grudge against Maureen for seizing a ball of his that wound up among her chickens — killing one. Ray lounges around the house watching Australian soaps when he is not creating mischief. England and labor beckon soon.
Rogers does as well as anyone can with this role, but his talent deserves better. You want to take his Ray outside and kick him in the rear, as an Irishman would if any were available, but Rogers is huge. The innocence with which he plays Ray does not hide the fact. Ray’s disrespect for Mag has him up there with Maureen.
Mag has two other daughters. Apparently, they married to get away from her. Half a day around Christmas is all they can stand with dear old mum.
Director Elizabeth van den Berg is very familiar with McDonagh’s work. Instead of attempting to force laughs, van den Berg’s troupe keeps it real. How funny is telling your mother you wish she were dead and you fantasize about picking up a stranger at her funeral and having sex with him? If you find that funny, you have to see this. If you find it sick, you may want to see The Beauty Queen of Leenane to understand how a daughter could feel this way.
Van den Berg is also the dialect director. Actors’ accents were superb. Intimacy choreographer Megan Behm had Fouché and Dennison control dancing, foreplay, and the morning after dreamily. Casey Kaleba has Herber focus on screaming, a sound effect, and a skin patch while she is tortured. Considering the scene, this was tastefully done.
Eric Bierninghausen’s set places the action in a bare-bones kitchen for both acts. Stage right is a wall with old photos, memories, and fantasies that are important to the work. Upstage right center is the door to the outside, which also features great symbolism. On the left is a wall with old photos. The wall connects to a door. Further upstage center are windows, a refrigerator, a pantry, a stove, and a stinky sink.
Upstage left is a crucifix, and photos of JFK and Bobby Kennedy clue in the audience that the scene is between 1961 and 1963. While Mag generally hates Yanks, she at least has a soft spot for two. A door to the bedrooms is also positioned upstage right.
Stage right features a kitchen table and two chairs where much of the action takes place. Center stage has a peat-burning stove that also finds an occasional letter or message in it. The messages never make it to their intended party.
Running Time: One hour and 45 minutes, with one 15-minute intermission.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane plays through March 2, 2025, presented by Maryland Ensemble Theatre, performing in the group’s downstairs theater at 31 West Patrick Street in downtown Frederick, MD (across the street from the Weinberg Center). Performances are at 8 pm Thursday through Saturday and 3 pm on Sundays. Tickets ($15–$36, with discounts available for students, senior citizens, students, and military) may be purchased by phone at (301) 694-4744, online, or in person at the MET box office open Tuesday to Thursday, 12 – 6 pm, Fridays 12 – 4 pm and one hour before performances. A limited number of Pay What You Will tickets are available for each performance starting at $7 each, while inventory lasts.
ASL interpretation is available on February 14. Audio description services can be arranged through the box office.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
By Martin McDonagh
CREATIVES
Directed by Elizabeth van den Berg
Stage Management by Shayden Jamison*
Asst. Stage Management by Olivia Pietanza*
Set Design by Eric Berninghausen
Lighting Design by Doug Grove*
Sound Design by Kevin Lloyd
Costume Design by Ronald Breitfeller
Properties Design by Lori Boyd*
Dramaturgy by Zack Callis*
Fight Consulting by Casey Kaleba
Intimacy Consulting by Megan Behm
Production Management by Melynda Burdette Wintrol*
Technical Direction by Cody James*
* Denotes MET Ensemble Member
CAST
Gené Fouché* as Maureen Folan
Julie Herber* as Mag Folan
Bill Dennison* as Pato Dooley
Willem Rogers* as Ray Dooley
Lori Laird as Mauren/Mag understudy
Joseph Waeyaert* as Pato Dooley Understudy
Zack Callis* as Ray Dooley Understudy
*Denotes MET Ensemble Member