What Do Critics Think of The Beauty Queen of Leenane at BAM? | Playbill

The Verdict What Do Critics Think of The Beauty Queen of Leenane at BAM? Martin McDonagh’s award-winning dark comedy is remounted in Brooklyn by Ireland’s Druid Theatre Company.
Marie Mullen as Mag, Aisling O'Sullivan as Maureen, and Marty Rea as Pato Stephen Cummiskey

Druid, Ireland’s acclaimed theatre company, arrived at the Brooklyn Academy of Music January 11 with a 20th anniversary revival of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Druid co-founders Garry Hynes and Marie Mullen both have a history with the dark comedy—director Hynes won a Tony Award for directing the play on Broadway in 1998, along with Mullen, who also won a Tony Award for her performance as Maureen in the original production. The actor now stars in the older role of the mother, Mag.

Aisling O’Sullivan, Marty Rea, and Aaron Monaghan complete the cast. Performances continue through February 5 in the BAM Harvey Theater, located at 651 Fulton St., Brooklyn.

Read what critics thought of the revival below:

The Hollywood Reporter (Jordan Riefe)
The New York Times (Ben Brantley)
NY Daily News (Joe Dziemianowicz)
Past Magazine (Siobhán Brett)
Time Out New York (David Cote)
Vulture (Jesse Green)

Here’s how BAM outlines McDonagh’s award-winning play: “Set in the provincial Irish town of Leenane, it tells the story of spinster Maureen Folan who lives with her manipulative, aging mother Mag. They spend their days aggressively nagging, scratching, and jabbing each other with insults. But when Maureen meets a viable suitor who is smitten with her, Mag sets in motion a chain of events that hilariously and horrifyingly threaten her daughter’s last likely chance for a romantic relationship. Not to be outdone, Maureen plots and enacts a chilling revenge—an action that ultimately seals her purgatorial existence.“

The production features set design by Francis O'Connor, lighting design by James F. Ingalls, and sound design by Greg Clarke. Paddy Cunneen is the composer.

For tickets and more information visit bam.org.

 
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