The Beauty Queen of Leenane NYC Reviews and Tickets
Show-Score Member Reviews (104)
See it if You like Irish plays that take your emotions on a roller coaster ride;mother-daughter drama at its best;exquisite cast from the Druids
Don't see it if You expect an action-packed play and dislike listening to dialogue spoken in a strong Irish accent; Dislike violence and elder abuse Read more
See it if You are a Martin McDonagh fan and appreciate great acting.
Don't see it if You aren't willing to travel to BAM or you can't afford orchestra seats. Hard to understand the Irish accents from the balcony.
See it if you have a taste for very black comedy, superlative acting, and penetrating writing about the destructive nature of stagnation.
Don't see it if you don't want to listen very carefully. This one requires full attention.
See it if you want compelling acting in a well crafted play about the desperate cruelty people who are supposed to love each other use
Don't see it if you want to be entertained by happy people in uplifting circumstances This is tough life about people who destroy each other to try to live
See it if You like dark comedy-drama with great acting. You won't be disappointed!
Don't see it if Find it hard to grasp Irish brogue. At the beginning it is a little hard to understand the actors.
See it if Enjoy old school tragic drama. Cathartic inter family relationships Irish writing and insight at it's best
Don't see it if Not interested in an intense evening Of thought provoking drama Read more
See it if great acting in McDonagh's very funny play about the depressing lives of a mother and daughter stuck in a small town in Ireland.
Don't see it if you want a sunny outlook in a play. You don't want to see heartbreaking story or want to hear bickering women at each others throats.
See it if you want to see a classic black comedy redone extremely well; you can find humor in the darkness of humanity
Don't see it if you need your humor to be light; you don't enjoy small, nuanced projections
Critic Reviews (34)
"Its sad truths and perverse humor have not lost their power…With all the history and success, a ‘Beauty Queen’ revival is a no-brainer. It’s also a must-see…Depressing? Yes, but also grimly hilarious…’Leenane’ allows its characters to do incredibly ugly things, but also creates moments of sincere sweetness between the gasps and the guilty laughs. Just like Mag does to Maureen, the play will toy with your emotions; and just like Maureen with Mag, it’ll stick with you."
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"As Mag, Marie Mullen is a grotesque (and devilishly funny) 'Mommie Dearest.' Daughter Maureen, played by the feisty Aisling O’Sullivan, gives as good as she gets...Garry Hynes’s meticulous direction distinguishes her as the authoritative interpreter of McDonagh’s work...Above all, McDonagh’s wicked sense of black humor and his ability to create colorful characters are the talents that distinguish him as one of the most successful playwrights of his generation."
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“As riveting as ever. Maybe, this time around it’s even funnier and less oppressive than what I remember but without losing one shade of darkness...The brilliance of McDonagh’s writing is that it has the perfect balance of humor and darkness, rolled up and seconds apart. I had forgotten how this play wraps up in the end and found myself as shocked as everyone else. ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ packs a powerful punch in the end, even after all the laughs.”
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"A sharp, stellar production...McDonagh’s acerbic dialogue pops to life, threatening at all times to maim with its power. The excellent cast proves adroit with such a potent script, and the result is a production that manages to be at once haunting and a whole lot of fun…’Beauty Queen’ is full of McDonagh’s trademark wit and caustic worldview, but this production finds its great strength in the performances at its center…In these experienced and skillful hands, McDonagh’s play bursts to life."
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"The wonderfully written and performed letter monologue is a highlight, but the contents make instantly clear where the plot will be going. Still, even more egregious tests of credibility and dramaturgic validity lie ahead, especially in the closing minutes and their foreshadowed violence. Nonetheless, McDonagh's ripe, broguish language, his feisty characterizations, and the richly voiced, emotionally honest, and comically vibrant acting, keep you constantly engrossed."
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"Laceratingly funny and boisterously vicious…This production is every bit as breathtaking as the original…'Beauty Queen'—with McDonagh’s virtuosic language and Hynes’ remarkable production—remains true…As memorable as Mullen was in 1998, she instantly overtakes herself when the lights come up at BAM. Her Mag is monumental...O’Sullivan gives a matching performance as Maureen...The electricity is so high-voltage that it is as if we received a double clout from the pair.”
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"McDonagh is skillful at manipulating an audience. When we’re aware he’s doing it, tension is nonetheless maintained...Aisling O’Sullivan’s Maureen's seduction of Pato is insufficiently desperate...Nor is the end as powerful as it might be...Marty Rea’s Pato Dooley may be the best thing on stage. The actor is straight-from-the-hip credible...Director Garry Hynes is a good hand at visual stage use and pacing. Unfortunately intelligibility is an issue here."
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"Doesn’t so much confirm that McDonagh’s first hit is a terrific play, but that, like all great plays, it can be done differently, even though the director, Garry Hynes, guided the original...In this production Hynes has brought out more subtly the cruelty and pain in both women...The actors are all superb...There are only a couple quibbles. The Irish accents are really thick, and it’s a struggle to attune one’s ear to them. And an important scene falls flat."
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