The Beauty Queen of Leenane

“There are plenty of other things just as dangerous that could finish you off just as easily. Maybe even more easily.” “Such as?” “Well, this rotten little town of ours, for one.”

In a remote town in Ireland’s Connemara mountains live two women: Maureen, a thin, plain spinster, and her elderly, ailing mother, Mag. Maureen’s days are filled with hatred for her mother. She can’t stand Mag’s hypochondria and manipulative behaviour, or the fact that she can’t cook so much as soup or porridge, and empties her chamber pot into the kitchen sink every morning.

One day, the neighbours, brothers Pat and Ray, invite Maureen to a farewell party for their uncle. Maureen decides to go and spends the night with Pat, whom she brings home. He becomes Maureen’s first boyfriend—and her ticket to leaving behind her manipulative mother and the small town. But Mag’s manipulative ways and Maureen’s complicated past make her search for happiness more difficult. Will Maureen manage to escape the confines of the small town and her monotonous life? Or is reality not quite what it seems?

Director Ieva Stundžytė says: “I first encountered the playwright’s work while I was studying at LMTA, when I saw Jonas Vaitkus’s production of The Pillowman at the Youth Theatre, and, during the Klaipėda Drama Theatre’s tour in Vilnius, Gyčio Padegimo’s production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane. What stayed with me was not the productions themselves, but above all Martin McDonagh’s writing and the impressions it left: themes so sharp they are unsettling; playful, controversial dialogue seemingly written with a light touch; paradoxical situations that are nevertheless very recognisable; and black humour taken to the point of absurdity.

“Women are also very important to me—as performers, as characters, and in the broadest sense. I consciously look for material for productions that is for women, and, though not necessarily about women, includes women. Descriptions such as ‘beautiful’ or ‘strong’ when applied to a woman are, in my view, deeply ambiguous. Beauty means being yourself, being free from other people’s opinions, feeling that you matter to yourself, that you care for and love yourself. Strength means acknowledging your own tiredness, anger and hurt; giving legitimacy to your full emotional range; and exposing stereotypes. In creating this production, I am trying to distil all of this and bring it to life, drawing on the play.”

The project is funded by the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Lithuania.