Fecking Great


Reviewed 3/11/06

The Beauty Queen of Leenane
by Matthew McDonagh
Directed by Dan Schay
The Algonquin Theater Company
The West Valley Art Museum, Surprise
(602) 547-8920
March 3rd - 19th, 2006
$18.00 - $20.00
Discount tickets may be available at

What is it about Algonquin Theatre Company that allows them to come along once or twice a season and create such perfection under forbidding circumstances? I mean, they work in the middle of a far west valley art gallery under some of the worst technical options imaginable. Even with that, a flawless diamond like their mounting of Martin McDonagh’s tight little family drama The Beauty Queen of Leenane appears, and you realize that it doesn’t take money to create a professional production, just a lot of talent and determination. Algonquin is the definition of grit.

I’m surprised that this nice little four-person script hadn’t been produced sooner. It’s a taut psychological drama that begins clear-cut and turns through areas that are hilarious, tense, and finally heartbreaking as only an Irish play can be. Of course, it needs two powerful actresses to play the roles of Maureen and Mag Folan, the daughter and mother who battle each other in sinister and totally recognizable ways. There aren’t a lot of actresses up to the challenge. For Maureen, Robyn Allen is definitely one of the most obvious choices. Algonquin waited for her to move into the character’s age range, and the result is a performance every bit the equal of her prior greatest, 2002’s All She Really Cares About is the Yankees. This is a subtle performance where she knows her character down to the bile that roils in her guts. Allen exists inside Maureen’s worn, tattered soul. It is so natural, it’s truly scary, especially as the stakes are raised through the climax of the show.

I honestly couldn’t think of a local actress right for Mag, but director Dan Schay has located her for us, Sharon Collar. A veteran of Mountain Shadows, her connection with Allen is palpable. She is slow, steady, and malevolent. She brings across Mag’s passive aggressive ways without making her too hateful, and it is this balance that she and Schay are able to find that allows the climax to be so damned effective.

For his part, Schay has worked not just with pacing and staging, but also with silences and subtext, and that’s the type of work that makes this company stand out. It’s just as fun to watch what’s not being said and who’s not talking as it is to hear the sharp dialogue delivered.

Newcomer A.J. Moorehead is spectacular in his small-but-pivotal role of Ray Dooley, the neighbor boy trapped and itching for freedom. All of the actors have done their homework with accents, but Moorehead also captures the disaffected-youth attitude that drives his character. Ron Hunting is solid as Pato, the object of Maureen’s desperate desire. It’s not quite to the level of some of his strongest work, but this could very well be due to the extraneous circumstances surrounding the second weekend. Still, it was more than enough to create an empathetic connection.

Hunting’s recreation of a small Irish house is quite impressive, from the central stove to the tins of Kimberly’s placed around the set. It’s even more amazing when considering those conditions once more. Due to problems with the space, I was unable to see Scott Champbell’s lighting design to its fullest effect, but what there was hinted at his usual strong work.