Druid, Ireland’s acclaimed theatre company, makes its debut at the Brooklyn Academy of Music January 11 with a 20th-anniversary revival of Martin McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane. Garry Hynes, Druid co-founder and the winner of a Tony Award for directing the play on Broadway in 1998, returns to helm the dark comedy, along with fellow co-founder Marie Mullen, who also won a Tony Award for her performance as Maureen in the original production.
Mullen now takes on the older role of the mother, Mag. Aisling O’Sullivan, Marty Rea, and Aaron Monaghan complete the cast.
Performances continue through February 5 in the BAM Harvey Theater, located at 651 Fulton St., Brooklyn.
Here’s how BAM outlines McDonagh’s award-winning play: “Set in the provincial Irish town of Leenane, it tells the story of spinster Maureen Folan who lives with her manipulative, aging mother Mag. They spend their days aggressively nagging, scratching, and jabbing each other with insults. But when Maureen meets a viable suitor who is smitten with her, Mag sets in motion a chain of events that hilariously and horrifyingly threaten her daughter’s last likely chance for a romantic relationship. Not to be outdone, Maureen plots and enacts a chilling revenge—an action that ultimately seals her purgatorial existence.“
The production features set design by Francis O'Connor, lighting design by James F. Ingalls, and sound design by Greg Clarke. Paddy Cunneen is the composer.
For tickets and more information visit bam.org.