The Beauty Queen of Lenane (Druid Theater Company, Galway at BAM Harvey Theater) by Martin McDonagh

There is no human relationship more prone to the extremes of emotion than that of mother and daughter and in Martin McDonagh’s revelatory The Beauty Queen of Lenane the levels of loathing, vitriol and volatility between Mag and Maureen Folan are incendiary.  This is what great theater is all about; being unable to look away from the train wreck which is occurring onstage.

The ladies Folan live in shabby misery together.  Maureen (a wonderfully snarky and self-pitying Aisling O’Sullivan), the 40 year old daughter is resentful and pining for a youth that is lost and a life slipping away in service of a needy and mean-spirited old woman.  Mag, the 70 year old mother (played with gleeful nastiness by the terrific Marie Mullen) is as truculent as a child and as lovable as a snake.  Every interaction is a struggle for control, for that little edge over the other.

Into this toxic mix float the brothers Dooley.  Aaron Monaghan who plays Ray is the comic backbone of a piece which, despite being grounded in fury, is funny as hell.  Marty Rea as Pato is sweet and vulnerable.  Having harbored feelings for Maureen which, on his return from London, he takes a chance on expressing, he is pulled into the vicious vortex between his ‘Beauty Queen of Lenane’ and her mother.

The revelations come in waves and the shocking final scenes made me gasp but I cannot remember ever enjoying an afternoon at the theater more.  This ‘Queen’ is a beauty, indeed.