‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’ reigns supreme at Bare Bones Theater

The French have a name for it: “folie à deux.”  “Madness shared by two” refers to a situation often born of isolation whereby the same delusional belief system is held by two individuals.   Bare Bones Theater Company’s production of Martin McDonagh’s award-winning dark comedy, “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” is about the dynamics and consequences of such a troubling relationship. Under the direction of Bare Bones founder, Jeff Bennett, the stellar cast raises folie à deux to a fine art.

The highly acclaimed Irish playwright set his masterpiece about a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship in Leenane, a small rural town in western Ireland. The action takes place in a cottage, which might have a quaint charm under other circumstances, but has become a battlefield. The combatants are the elderly and ailing Mag and her 40-year-old spinster daughter, Maureen. A sense of entrapment imbues the cottage with the air of a prison from which neither woman seems to know how to escape.

It is clearly a place where dreams and hopes have been cruelly trampled.  Maureen is a bitter, fading beauty whose siblings have gone on to marry and have families. Maureen has been left to care for the cantankerous, demanding and meddling mother who passes her days ensconced in a rocking chair. In this symbiotic relationship, which borders on the parasitic, the dance of approach-avoidance is such that the women are constantly slugging it out with words, each trying to get the upper hand. Any impulsive gesture bordering on kindness is immediately twisted or retracted. Even the simplest of life’s pleasures, that of Mag enjoying shortbread fingers with a cup of tea, becomes a bone of contention.

 McDonagh fully engages the audience with his characters’ war of wills while imbuing the dialogue with unexpected bursts of humor. As  truth bandies back and forth like a ping pong ball, the audience is left wondering whom to believe, mother or daughter?  Early on, Mag tries to thwart the excitement of an unexpected party invitation by failing to deliver the message conveyed in person by Ray Dooley. Yet there’s an angry red burn on one of Mag’s hands. How did it get there?

Hope springs eternal as Maureen, her confidence buoyed up by a new black dress, attends the party after all and brings home Ray’s somewhat intoxicated brother, Pato Dooley, for a night of wild abandon. The next morning she brazenly  flaunts Pato’s presence and her sexuality in her mother’s face. Pato, a construction worker, has to travel to Britain for business for an extended period. Will he write to Maureen as promised  or will Maureen never hear from him again as her mother proclaims?

To bring McDonagh’s brilliance to full fruition-- and in full brogue no less-- requires  an incredible cast and Bare Bones delivers the goods—big time! Mag is none other than Deb Starker, the omniscient editor and publisher of Deb’s Web, the go-to authority on Long Island’s active theatrical scene. Ms. Starker is herself a 50 year seasoned veteran who has acted, directed and produced.  She frequently performs at Pt. Jefferson’s Theatre Three, most notably in their annual production of ‘A Christmas Carol.’ And in her infinite wisdom, after she was precast, Ms. Starker called upon her friend and fellow actor Linda May, an outstanding performer with whom she had worked in the past, to audition for the role of the adversarial daughter. Both demonstrate incredible emotional range.  Simply put, it’s magic.

Maureen’s love interest, Pato Dooley, is played by Sean King, who delighted me in “The Monkey King” and most recently “Dead of Night.” The chemistry between him and Ms. May rings true, and in a poignant monologue, Mr. King eloquently expresses his disappointment in what life has offered so far, and the desire to pursue the glimmer of something better.

James Staehlin, whose talents I last enjoyed in Bare Bones’ production of ‘Glengarry, Glen Ross,’ excels as Ray, the impatient but happy-go-lucky brother.  One of the play’s funniest scenes is ignited by his comment about the cottage’s smell and Mag’s explanation involving cats. I won’t give away what transpires, but it is hilarious.

The show was produced by Alex Edwards Bourdrez.