Those with a dark sense of humour, get set: an unmissable new production from MADC promises to be one of the first highlights of 2024’s theatre season.
Touted by The Guardian as “the blackest of comedy that is both hilarious and horrific” and written by four-time Oscar nominee Martin McDonagh, The Beauty Queen of Leenane has won four Tony Awards on Broadway and received a nomination for a Laurence Olivier Award.
MADC’s production, which stars top performers Isabel Warrington, Andrea Pace, Nicholas Jackman and Alex Weenink, will take to the stage at the MADC Playhouse over two weekends on 23, 24 and 25 February and 1, 2 and 3 March, hot on the heels of the sell-out success of MADC’s Christmas pantomime, Beauty and the Beast.
Directed by Adrian Buckle, The Beauty Queen of Leenane also features an impressive creative team with costume design by Nicole Cuschieri, set design by Marco Mallia and lighting design by Chris Gatt.
The story follows a plain and lonely spinster in a run-down cottage in the Irish village of Leenane, amid her first, and possibly final, chance at love – and her demanding and manipulative mother who will stop at nothing to derail it. Combining thrilling elements of farce and melodrama with a searing critique on the sanctity of family, the play explores the tension of isolation and desperate conflict.
“Equal parts funny, sad and unsettling, The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a timeless and relatable play that has become a modern classic with a long list of prestigious awards,” says MADC Chairman Stephen Casaletto. “Such an extraordinary play needs a truly extraordinary and highly experienced cast, led by Isabel Warrington and Andrea Pace and directed by Adrian Buckle, for what promises to be an unforgettable event in Malta’s theatrical calendar this year.”
MADC’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane will be performed at the MADC Playhouse, Sta Venera, on 23, 24 and 25 February and 1, 2 and 3 March, with all performances at 7.30pm. This production is suitable for audiences aged 16 and over. Booking is now open at www.madc.com.mt. The MADC production of The Beauty Queen of Leenane is supported by The Embassy of Ireland in Malta and presented by arrangement with Concord Theatricals Ltd on behalf of Samuel French Ltd: www.concordtheatricals.co.uk.
