It can only be hoped that, after the recent Bafta-winning and Oscar-nominated success of his film In Bruges, Martin McDonagh isn’t lost to theatre.
This cracking revival of his 1996 breakthrough work reminds us once again what a gift McDonagh has for black comedy and what a J M Synge-like ear for language as spoken with a rich Irish accent.
We’re in a back-of-beyond town in the mountains of Connemara, where Maureen (Susan Lynch), a lonely 40-year-old virgin, fights viciously in a decrepit house with her malevolent mother, Mag (Rosaleen Linehan). Maureen dreams of romance and a rare night out offers a tentative chance with Pato Dooley (David Ganly). Mag, however, is damned if she’s going to start making her own Complan at this late stage.
Dialogue this scabrously funny virtually speaks itself but the central duo offer up sparkling turns. Lynch, with a default setting of bedraggled and dishevelled, gives Maureen a wrenching ache of loneliness, as well as a fierce spark of independent spirit. The magnificent Linehan, the very opposite of a sweet old lady, makes Mag a malignant Buddha sprouting in her strategically-placed rocking chair.
So vividly does director Joe Hill-Gibbins realise this scenario that the enrapt first-night audience emitted a panto-like chorus of spontaneous cheers and groans, as they willed Maureen on to the sort of happy ending that doesn’t tend to win the hatfuls of awards Beauty Queen has. At just £19.50 for a ticket, this is surely the best deal in town.
Until 21 Aug. Information: 020 7922 2922, youngvic.org
The Beauty Queen Of Leenane
Young Vic
The Cut, SE1 8LZ
