USM Department of Theatre presents the Beauty Queen of Leenane

  • Date: October 7, 2015 - October 10, 2015
  • Time: 07:30 PM
  • Location: Portland Stage Company Studio Theatre, Portland

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The University of Southern Maine Department of Theatre presents the Beauty Queen of Leenanee, the dark comedy by Martin McDonagh, directed by Thomas Power.  

Opening on Wednesday, October 7, 2015, four consecutive evening performances will be held at the Portland Stage Company Studio Theatre at 25A Forest Avenue in Portland. Tickets are $8 for students, $11 for seniors, USM employees and alumni, and $15 for the general public. Purchase tickets online at usm.maine.edu/theatre, or call (207) 780-5151.

The play is set in the Irish village of Leenane, Connemara in the early 1990’s. Total run time will be under two hours.

Where did you think you would be at this point in your life? Maureen (Mary Kate Ganza) is middle-aged, unmarried, and never dreamt of such a suffocating existence with her vindictive mother Mag (Elinor Strandskov), in the small Irish village of Leenane, Connemara. A glimmer of last-chance romance between Maureen and local gentleman Pato (Martin Bodenheimer) pulls the audience into a rabbit hole of deception, secrets, and betrayals, interspersed with grimly comic turnabouts. Hopes are raised only to be dashed and, like a kettle about to boil over, the dysfunction between mother and daughter soon reaches a simmering pitch. Pato's younger brother, Ray (Owen Carten) becomes the messenger and inadvertently sets up the crisis for Maureen as he hands precious invitations to mother Mag instead of the intended recipient.

Director Tom Power describes the play in terms coined by the theatre critic Aleks Sierz, “In-Yer-Face theatre.” Regarded as a theatrical revolution, it originated in Britain as a reaction to the social and economic environment of the times. Irish humor is often dark. The reality is that unhappiness can be funny, living somewhere between comedy and tragedy.

To learn more about studying theatre at USM, and to see a complete listing of public performances, visit usm.maine.edu/theatre or write to lillianc@maine.edu.

Those needing special accommodations to participate fully in this program, contact Lori Arsenault, (207) 780-5142, loria@maine.edu. Hearing impaired: call USM's telex / TDD number (207) 780-5646.

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Venue

Portland Stage Company Studio Theatre

25A Forest Avenue
Portland  ME  04101 

Organization

USM Department of Theatre

Lori Arsenault
207-780-5142
ude.eniam@airol
www.usm.maine.edu/theatre