During the week leading up to Commencement, Production Workshop will present "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," a work from award-winning playwright Martin McDonagh that chronicles the mounting cruelty between a mother and her daughter as the daughter encounters her last chance at love.
Set in a remote town in Ireland, the play - which has yet to be cast - tells the story of a 70-year-old mother, whom director Austin Campion '06 described as "an old, bitter sadist." For much of the play, which also features two brothers named Ray and Pato Dooley, the mother forces her middle-aged daughter, Maureen, to remain cloistered in their cottage.
"It's a very, very dark play . . . and it's hilarious," Campion said.
McDonagh is renowned for his distinctive blend of despair, violence and black humor. He has written two trilogies, the Galway trilogy and the Aran Islands trilogy, featuring plays with names like "A Skull in Connemara" and "The Cripple of Inishmaan." He is best known in America for "The Pillowman," which opened on Broadway in April 2005. McDonagh won an Academy Award this year for "Six Shooter," a short film he wrote and directed.
Campion, who pitched this play three times before his proposal was finally accepted, believes "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" will appeal to a more overtly theatrical sensibility that has formerly been underrepresented at Brown. He said the fact that actors at the University are students as well as performers and artists has created a predilection for "heavily dramaturgical" plays that are "satisfying both theatrically and scholastically." He added that he hopes "The Beauty Queen of Leelane" will focus on the former.
"It tells a really good story," Campion said, adding he believes "The Beauty Queen of Leelane" is one of the best plays from the last 10 years.
Performances will be held in T.F. Green Hall from May 23 to May 26.
