Garry Hynes has been breaking new ground in theatre since the 1970s when she, along with two friends from the National University of Ireland, founded the Druid in Galway, the country’s first professional theatre company to be based outside Dublin. Two decades later, Hynes discovered an unsolicited script in Druid’s in-box by a young, unknown playwright named Martin McDonagh, entitled THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE. After directing the play’s World Premiere in Ireland in 1996 to rapturous praise, Hynes and Druid brought it to Broadway. And in 1998, the production earned four Tony Awards including one for Hynes, making her the first woman to win Best Direction of a Play.
The 2016 Druid production of “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” now onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through Dec. 18, is special for a number of reasons. It’s the 20th anniversary of Druid’s original production, again directed by Garry Hynes, and Druid co-founder Marie Mullen, who won the Tony playing Maureen Folan two decades ago, now takes on the role of Maureen’s mother, Mag. “To have premiered a play with Marie 20 years ago that became such a significant one, and then be able to work with the same actor now in a different role is a privilege beyond compare,” shares Hynes.
The play is set in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, Ireland and tells the tale of Maureen Folan (Aisling O’Sullivan), a plain and lonely woman in her early 40s whose sisters have left their mother’s care to her), and her manipulative, aging mother Mag (Marie Mullen, who so well understands the motivations and emotions of both women).
Mag’s interference in Maureen’s first and potentially last romantic relationship sets in motion a chain of events that are at times comical but end horrifically when the less-than-emotionally rational Maureen seeks revenge on her mother for burning a very personal letter meant only for Maureen’s eyes. Not receiving it changes both their lives, and not for the better.
Intertwined in the women’s lives are members of the Dooley family who live in the same vicinity. The younger Ray (handsome and exuberant Aaron Monaghan) is somewhat dim-witted although very likeable, and always tries to do the right thing for his friends and family. But when his uncle Pato (Marty Rea) who, after spending a night with Maureen truly believes there is a future for them, entrusts Ray with an all-too-important letter meant to convince Maureen to follow him to Boston where he is headed for a job, after waiting around for her for most of a day and after the continual prodding of Mag, Ray (after a much too long and drawn out scene), gives the letter to Mag who reads it and then burns it before Maureen ever has a chance to see it.
When Maureen discovers the truth, by brutally burning her mother’s hand on their wood-burning stove, she rushes to the train station in an attempt to reach out to Pato and agree to proposal. The brilliance of the writing allows us to believe her when she returns, telling Mag she is going to back her things and follow Pato to Boston as soon as she can. But did she really manage to catch up to him before he left or is the incident just a figment of her over-wrought mind? The truth proves a desperate woman will go to any means to change her life for the better.
Unfortunately for the production at the Mark Taper Forum, it was often difficult to understand the strong Irish accents required of the four actors, especially when their low volume prevented the words from even being heard clearly. So while the action, especially the bitterness between the two women and the longing between Maureen and Pato, is understandable, probably half the dialogue was lost on my ears. And given the number of audience patrons who left at intermission, I think the same was probably true for a lot of them.
Besides the depressing nature of the story and dreary wet, Irish countryside setting, Hynes direction seemed to be incredibly slow paced, stretching out scenes to the point of them being boring and attention-draining. This was especially true when Mag was attempting to persuade Ray to give her the letter, during which time you could hear audience members moaning at each possible exchange as it passed between the two characters. So when Mag finally gets the letter, it seemed anti-climactic as you knew by then exactly what was going to happen.
But if you can put all that aside and watch the brilliant work of these four remarkable actors, certainly many will empathize with how interdependent family members can be, manipulating them to the point of resentment and lashing out by any means possible. It’s a harsh world in which we live, especially when enduring cabin fever with no possible escape in the dreary Irish countryside.
The Mark Taper run of “The Beauty Queen of Leenane” is the first U.S. engagement of the play’s ongoing world tour. Tickets range from $25 to $85 and are available by calling 213-628-2772 or online at www.CenterTheatreGroup.org. The Mark Taper Forum is located at the Music Center, 135 N. Grand Ave., Downtown L.A..
