There is bleakness and bite in the Irish humor of Martin McDonagh's "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," now playing downtown at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. As director, Sheldon Metz finds his laughs in the hapless lives of four Irish villagers who aren't having much success trying to muddle through the daily challenges of their shabby existence.
Maureen (Rhonda Hallquist) is a 40-year-old spinster desperate to break the cycle of despair, though she feels shackled by the irons of responsibility – most particularly caring for her cantankerous and manipulative mother. Sure there must be a streak of co-dependency involved in getting to this point, but when the play opens Maureen is already about to explode.
Cynthia Jeffery in the most remarkable performance of the city's entire theater season completely disappears into the role of Mag, which rhymes with hag, which is exactly who she is. Quarrelsome from dawn to dark, her face frozen in anger, her only purpose is to make others miserable.
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Yet, neither Metz nor Jeffery sees the personality of Mag as one-dimensional. She is an aging woman alone in the world, with no resources. She is frightened at the prospects of an empty house.
Of course her daughter Maureen needs a man. But the risk of letting Maureen get married and hoping for the best is more than Mag can manage.
We are given opportunity to understand that. Not that Mag is sympathetic, but we do appreciate what she is up against.
Of course Maureen also has a skeleton of consequence in her closet, or else she wouldn't be a spinster – not even in Leenane.
The men are young Ray (Robert Anthony Peters) and his older brother Pato (Jared Stokes). Their functions are to keep the plot moving, which they do with confidence and Irish bluster.
Once the tragically fierce relationship between Mag and Maureen is established, we meet Pato an awkward bachelor that Maureen sees as her last chance for happiness.
More laughs ensue when Pato comes for dinner, defenseless against Mag's attacks. But Pato does spend the night, so the race is on.
McDonagh is also a young playwright who lives the eagerness of young people itching to be on their own if they can just find a way to become independent. Ray is one of those grown-up children whose own frustration with village life makes him a time bomb of emotions.
Ray becomes the x-factor in this fragile relationship between Maureen and Pato. But even more powerful is the play's final resolution in the final scene, when we realize "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" isn't about the four people on stage. It is about all of us.
Performances continue through March 13 at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays, 2:30 p.m. Sundays, at Beowulf Alley Theatre, 11 S. Sixth Ave. Tickets are $23, with discounts online and on certain nights. The Thursday, March 3, performance is a benefit for the St. Patrick's Day Parade. Following the Sunday, March 6, matinee is a concert of Irish folk music by Scatter the Dust, which requires a separate ticket ($12 in advance, $15 at the door).
For details and reservations on all these events, go to www.beowulfalley.org
