Successful opening weekend for Brideview Drama
Brideview Drama performed their 2022 festival play ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ by Martin McDonagh, for the first time on Saturday and Sunday last in Tallow Community Centre.
Audience members were very engaged from the opening line to the last, with many describing the play as ‘powerful’ and ‘moving’.
The story of ‘The Beauty Queen’ is a harrowing one, of a toxic relationship between a mother and daughter. Mag and Maureen Folan are in a constant battle for power and are willing to go to cruel and violent lengths to emerge triumphant.
Mag Folan, a seventy year old woman played by Helen Aherne, has a crippling fear of being left alone or put into a home if her 40 year old daughter, Maureen, ever leaves her. Maureen, on the other hand, fears being trapped forever in the isolated house with her treacherous mother but at present, she can see no way out of her situation.
However, when the delinquent neighbour, Ray Dooley, calls to the house to invite the women to a ‘do’ in the local hall on behalf of his older brother Pato, Maureen’s only ticket out of misery hangs in the balance.
Brideview Drama will perform ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ five more times before beginning their competitive journey on the full-length amateur drama circuit in the open section.
Catch this moving production in Tallow Community Centre this weekend on Saturday 19th and Sunday 20th or the following weekend on Saturday 26th or Sunday 27th. There will be one final performance on Wednesday, March 2nd. All performances begin at 8pm and tickets can be purchased at the door each night for €12.
Please note that masks must be worn by audience members for the duration of the performance. This play is not suitable for younger audiences as it contains adult themes and violence.