Arts & Entertainment

Mommie dearest?

‘Beauty Queen’ explores kitchen sink dysfunction drama

Published

13 years ago

August 29, 2013

Sarah Marshall, left, as Mag, and Kimberly Gilbert as Maureen in ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane.’ (Photo by Danisha Crosby; courtesy Round House Theatre)

‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’
Through Sept. 15
Round House Theatre
4545 East-West Highway
Bethesda, Md.
$35-$50
240-644-1100
roundhousetheatre.org

Anglo-Irish playwright Martin McDonagh has either seen some very scary stuff or has a darkly wild imagination. Let’s hope it’s the latter. In his intense, 1996 black comedy “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” the relationship between old Mag Folan and caretaker/daughter Maureen makes the sisters’ bond in “Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?” look downright cozy.

Now playing at Round House Theatre in Bethesda, “Beauty Queen” (the first of McDonagh’s trilogy set in Leenane, a tiny hamlet on the west coast of Ireland) is rife with horror and laughs. Lucky for us, the production is helmed by director Jeremy Skidmore who leads a top-notch cast in plumbing the tragicomedy’s many facets, ensuring what could be an over-the-top grand guignol is something all too fathomable.

At 40, Maureen (Kimberly Gilbert) is a virgin who’s never been in a relationship. Her days are spent waiting on her demanding mother Mag (Sarah Marshall) in their isolated stone cottage. It’s a tedious and lonely existence, but mother and daughter pass the time playing games — mind games of the sick and twisted variety. For the pair, life is an unending power struggle. Now and then Maureen gets out, usually for food shopping, but always her prison-like situation is waiting.

Maureen’s possible salvation appears in the form of neighbor Pato Dooley (Todd Scofield). He’s home on a visit from his construction job in England when he and Maureen get together for a night of boozy amour. But naturally controlling mama Mag isn’t having it, and her evil determination to quash the budding romance kicks off a string of sneaky betrayals and terrifying retributions.

As mother and daughter, Marshall and Gilbert are superb. Marshall, who is gay, nails Mag’s many moods: infantile, charming, diabolical and palpably rotten (whatever it takes to finagle her own way). As Maureen, Gilbert wonderfully displays a range of toughness and vulnerability. Scofield gives a solidly touching performance as the thoroughly decent Pato, a plain laborer who definitely is in over his head with these crazy Folan women. And Joe Mallon is appropriately obnoxious as Ray, Pato’s younger brother.

McDonagh is a masterful storyteller. He draws us in slowly. Initially it seems Mag is your garden variety spoiled old woman with a bad hip who likes her tea hot and porridge without lumps, and that Maureen is the harassed skivvy with a sharp tongue — her every chore is performed with a string of hilarious threats and profanities. But as the play unfolds, it becomes clear that this less-than-functional household isn’t simply the result of a mother and daughter spending too much time together. While her two sisters eluded Mag’s grasp via marriage, Maureen, with a history of breakdowns, remained at home as her mother’s sole caretaker, not an enviable role under the best of circumstances.

Kudos to the actors and dialect coach Leigh Wilson Smiley: the Irish accents are thick and consistent (and to me, sound authentic). For the first five or so minutes of the play, in fact, I panicked. What are they saying? But with a little concentration and settling into the rhythm of the talk, all was soon well. Mag and Maureen talk a lot about Complan, Kimberleys (a powdered supplement and cookies), and make myriad other alien references, so prior to curtain it helps to peruse the glossary provided in the program.

Though a lot of action takes place offstage, the entire play is set in the cottage’s shabby kitchen designed by Tony Cisek. With its ancient wood stove, dwarf fridge and stinky sink (that doubles as a loo for Mag), it’s easy to get a sense of Maureen’s unenviable workaday life. Though not small, the room is claustrophobic — ripe for explosion.

The play’s title becomes a sweet in-joke shared between Maureen and Pato, happily and then sadly evoking what they briefly had and even more so what might have been. “Beauty Queen” is a play that affects long after the lights go black.

Related Topics:Bethesda Martin McDonagh Maryland Out & About Round House Theatre The Beauty of Queen Leenane

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Photos

PHOTOS: ‘Studio 69’

Glitterati Productions hold party at Bunker

Published

12 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Michael Key

'Studio 69' was held at Bunker on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

18 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP

Theater

National tour of ‘Gatsby’ comes to National Theatre

Out actor Edward Staudenmayer talks playing the show’s gangster

Published

2 days ago

May 10, 2026

Patrick Folliard

Edward Staudenmayer plays Meyer Wolfsheim in ‘The Great Gatsby.’ (Photo courtesy National Theatre)

‘The Great Gatsby’
May 12-24
The National Theatre
1321 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.
$59-$196
Thenationaldc.com

Often dubbed “The Great American Novel” for its depiction of ambition and self-invention alongside the reversals of success, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “The Great Gatsby” says it all in a fast read.

Set against the excesses and energy of the Roaring Twenties, “The Great Gatsby,” novel and now the same-titled hit Broadway musical with a jazz/pop original score by Jason Howland and Nathan Tysen, tells the story of Nick Carraway and his friendship with Jay Gatsby, an enigmatic millionaire intent on reuniting with ex-lover, Daisy Buchanan.

It was during a four-month 2025 run in Seoul, South Korea, that out actor Edward Staudenmayer first played the show’s heavy, Meyer Wolfsheim, a gangster who helped Gatsby make his murkily acquired fortune. As Meyer, Staudenmayer opens the second act with, appropriately enough, “Shady.”

Now three months into a year-long North American tour, the show is poised to enjoy a brief run at Washington’s National Theatre (5/12-5/24).

While putting on his eyeliner prior to a recent Wednesday matinee at Chicago’s Cadillac Palace Theatre, the upstate New York-based actor shared about Gatsby and a life in theater.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Despite your good looks and terrific voice, you’re rarely the leading the man. How is that?

EDWARD STAUDENMAYER: I’m definitely a character man. I’ve been painting lines on my face to play old men since I was in high school. I was the youngest freshman in college playing old Uncle Sorin [in Chekhov’s “The Seagull”].

There have been many villains. Some darker than others. Meyer Wolfsheim is a very bad guy, but he doesn’t haunt me once I’m offstage. I play a lot of pickleball.

BLADE: Is it true that like so many of Fitzgerald’s characters, Wolfsheim is famously based on someone the writer encountered in life.

STAUDENMEYER: That’s true, Wolfsheim is pretty much a direct portrayal of real-life mobster and 1919 World Series fixer [Arnold Rothstein].

BLADE: When did the 1925 novel first surface on your radar?

STAUDENMAYER: Like many of us, I was assigned “The Great Gatsby” in high school. It was short, and filled with sex and illicit activities. I thought it was great. Definitely wasn’t a Judy Blume novel.

Interestingly, the book wasn’t originally a huge a success for Fitzgerald, but because it was about war and having the girl at home, they gave it to GIs leaving for WWII. After returning, a lot of those guys went on the GI Bill and became English teachers. They assigned the book to their students.

BLADE The idea that the book’s first-person narrator, Nick Carraway, is gay and enamored with Jay Gatsby is long discussed among readers and scholars. Does the musical touch on that?

STAUDENMAYER: Yes, there’s conjecture about Jay and Nick, and it’s implied in our show. It’s also implied about Jordan Baker, Jay’s fleeting romantic interest. Ultimately, she’s a confirmed bachelor, and a professional golfer who only wears pants.

Our performers are really good. Josh Grasso who plays Nick is fantastic. I’ve had to stop watching him in his last scene; it’s not good for Meyer Wolfsheim to take his curtain call crying. Our Gatsby, Jake David Smith, is good too. He’s gorgeous like Superman and sings like an angel.

BLADE: Do you ever imagine backstory for your characters whose sexuality is undefined?

STAUDENMAYER: I do, but not with Wolfsheim. I don’t see it. I’m trying to be as butch as possible with this ruthless killer.

BLADE: Have you had to do that in your career?

STAUDENMAYER: For a long time, I wore a mask to hide my gayness. I worked hard on being believable, that I was into the girl or that I was a tough guy.

It’s a different world now, and it’s so refreshing to be around the younger actors today; they’re remarkably open and comfortable.

BLADE: What was your coming of age like?

STAUDENMAYER: I played high school football in Palm Springs [he chuckles, alluding to the arid gay mecca], and I was pretty good too. But much to the chagrin of my parents and coaches, I quit the team to act in our senior year play. My super butch dad played semi-pro football and he was an ex-cop. I’m named after him. While I didn’t become my dad, I’ve played him often on stage. He was a true Gaston [the bumptious rival in “Beauty and the Beast”]. And like Gaston, he used antlers in all his interior decorating.

BLADE: Did he live to see your success in theater?

STAUDENMAYER: He did. Life was challenging growing up but the last 10 years of his life we couldn’t get off the phone with each other [his voice catches with emotion]. He accepted me entirely, and we became very close.

BLADE: Looking ahead, is there a part you’d especially like to play?

STAUDENMAYER: Like all baritones I’d love to play Sondheim’s “Sweeney Todd.” I’ve come close but it hasn’t happened yet. There’s still time.