Tense Intensity in ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’

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Photo by Jake Badovski via The Constructivists - theconstructivists.org

Set of The Beauty of Queen Leenane

The set of 'The Beauty of Queen Leenane' designed by Sarah Harris.

The Constructivists conjure tense intensity to the stage with a tightly woven production of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Director James Pickering fosters a deep connection for the ensemble of a cozy, little cottage in Ireland. Jaimelyn Gray summons a great amount of strength as Maureen—a woman who has spent her life in the service of her mother.

Flora Coker is powerfully resolute as Maureen’s aging mother Mag. Coker and Gray have managed a remarkably intricate, little emotional terrain between the two of them. Maureen has never really been able to live her own life as she has always looked after her mother...a matter that’s made all the worse by her mother’s abusive nature. Things get complicated as a man takes an interest Maureen, prompting her to dream of a life beyond her mother. Matt Specht wields an earthbound charisma as Pato, the man who has taken the interest in question. His charm lends a lighter edge to the drama as Maureen begins to consider a major potential change in her life.

It can be extremely difficult to render a complicated mother and daughter relationship with the kind of texture and complexity it often has offstage. Gray and Coker do a brilliant job of it in and around the silent moments and sullen shadows resting around the margins of a very tense situation that only gets more tense as the performance proceeds.

Sarah Harris’ set design is cleverly rendered. It’s a charming kind of squalor that settles-in around the edges of the drama that serves as a firm foundation for all of the aggression the serves as the central pulse for a deeply satisfying drama. 

The Beauty Queen of Leenane runs through April 12 at the Broadway Theatre Center’s Studio Theatre. For ticket reservations and more, visit The Constuctivists online.