Leenane is a real place, a beautiful, desolate but sheltered from the worst of the Atlantic weather, it owes its lushness to the almost year-round rainfall.
As if to hammer home the reality of the sodden speck on the map that is Leenane, Beauty Queen opens with real torrential rain poring down the front of the stage in Leicester Curve's Studio space. This means that the front quarter of the stage and some unfortunates in the front row start the performance soaked through. Throughout the play real rain pours down the window and a watery shadow plays across the wall on the rare occasions the sun comes out.
And the precipitation is persistent
The claustrophobic reality of living in the rurally isolated croft is punctured when 40 year old Maureen, the titular Beauty Queen, glimpses the possibility of escape from the unrelenting tedium of caring for her cantankerous Mother and just about squeezing a living from the land. A lifetime of sacrificing her own needs in order to pander to her demanding Mother's selfish requests lead her ever closer to a return to troubled times.
And the rainfall is relentless
Her Mother, terrified of being either alone or dumped in a home by her last remaining daughter, thwarts every attempt at escape.
And the downpour is dogged
Powerhouse performances from the cast of four, and especially the two female leads, wring much needed comedy from the unremitting drudgery of their lives.
Finally the choking suffocation is broken with tragic consequences and a new repression takes its place.
McDonagh's lyrical speech patterns lend this play a sing-song quality which often belies the raw emotions being expressed. He captures the idiomatic rhythm of Irish Yoda-speak perfectly
© Paul Towers 31/10/2013
No comments:
Post a Comment