The Beauty Queen of Leenane
The Beauty Queen of Leenane
By Martin McDonagh
Directed by Paul J. Potenza
Mar. 13 – Apr. 7, 2024
Shimberg Playhouse, Straz Center for the Performing Arts
Single tickets start at $40.
Preview tickets start at $25.
Tickets
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Single ticket prices listed are base-line prices. Prices for individual performances will increase based on demand.
Hands down, the very best way you can save money on Jobsite shows is with one of our season ticket packages.
Jobsite offers special ticket discounts for group ticket sales and for special members of the community (military, seniors, etc.)
Jobsite does not proactively offer content advisories, trigger warnings, or age recommendations, as tastes and sensitivities vary from person to person. If you have questions about content, appropriateness, or effects please contact us directly.
Curtain Time Changes
Run Time
Distinctions
Creative Loafing Best of the Bay
- Best Theatrical MVP – Roxanne Fay
- Best Theatrical ‘Poptop’ Gasp – Logan Franke
Weekly Planet Best of the Bay
- Best Costume Designer – Katrina Stevenson
- 2003 Top Ten Production
Tampa Tribune
- Best of 2003
What It's About
Set in a small town in the mountains of Connemara, County Galway, The Beauty Queen of Leenane is the darkly comic tale of Maureen Folan, a woman who feels like anything but a beauty queen.
After a lifetime spent caring for her bullying tyrant of a mother, 40-year-old Maureen feels that she has been robbed of any chance of romance or a life of her own. However, she is far from a self-pitying spinster. Every bit as ruthless as her mother, Maureen gets a wicked thrill out of serving her mother lumpy powdered drinks, cold tea, and stale biscuits. As the play develops, the audience discovers that’s the least of the ill-deeds.
When true love finally does come along for Maureen, the two women lock horns until scores are settled. With plot twists and story conundrums that fans of McDonagh have grown to expect, The Beauty Queen of Leenane will have audiences laughing aloud one moment and covering their mouths in stunned silence the next.
About The Playwright
After writing a number of plays in a very short period of time (this being his first), McDonagh has since become an Academy Award-winning screenwriter and director, enjoying box office and critical success with films like Six Shooter, In Bruges, Seven Psychopaths, Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, and most recently the highly-acclaimed The Banshees of Inisherin.
McDonagh has an astonishingly long list of awards for The Beauty Queen of Leenane. They include: The 1997 Evening Standard Award and the London Critics’ Circle Award for most promising playwright; New York’s Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics’ Circle Awards for Best Play of 1998; Time magazine’s number one Best of Theater Award. The New York production itself garnered six Tony Award nominations and four wins, and director Garry Hynes made Tony history as the first woman to receive the award for Best Director of a Play. The Beauty Queen of Leenane was first produced in Ireland at the Druid Theater in 1996, and the London premiere earned it an Olivier Award nomination for Best Play.
Production History
Jobsite first produced The Beauty Queen of Leenane, directed by Paul J. Potenza, Mar. 27 – Apr. 13, 2003, when it earned a Creative Loafing Best of the Bay Award for Best Costume Design (Katrina Stevenson), a 2003 Creative Loafing Top 10 Production, and a Tampa Tribune Best of 2003. Trivia: this is the show Jobsite had on stage when given residency at the Straz Center. Learn more about our love affair with Martin McDonagh at our blog.
Critic Reviews
magnetic performances from the start … an expertly paced, top-notch production. – BroadwayWorld
McDonagh’s play is very dark, at turns outrageously funny and then surprisingly cruel … he and the cast are so skilled that there are still twists around every corner right until the end. Even when you think you understand the dénouement, surprise is the watchword … Jobsite has long proven an affinity for Irish playwrights, and especially for McDonagh’s work. Here, Potenza really scores and his acting ensemble grabs you by the throat and won’t let go. – Creative Loafing
Looking for an exceptional theater experience? [This] is your ticket …The dialogue is laced with biting wit, delivered by the exceptional cast, all of whom are adept at with the Irish accent. – Tampa Bay Times
News
Cast & Crew
- Paul J. Potenza – Director
- Jessie Dorsey – Stage Manager
Cast
- Roxanne Fay – Mag Folan
- David M. Jenkins – Pato Dooley
- Blake Smallen — Ray Dooley
- Katrina Stevenson – Maureen Folan
Production
- Lauren Agans-Dominguez – Technical Apprentice
- Jo Averill-Snell – Lighting Design
- Logan Franke – Effects
- David M. Jenkins – Dialect Coach, Violence Coordinator
- Brian M. Smallheer – Scenic Design
- Katrina Stevenson – Costume Design
- Katherine Yacko – Assistant Director
2003 Cast & Crew
Cast
- Ned Averill-Snell – Pato
- David M. Jenkins – Ray
- Colleen McDonnell* – Maureen
- Diana Rogers* – Mag
* Member of Actors’ Equity Association
Crew
- Dickie Corley – Light Designer
- Brian M. Smallheer – Scenic Designer
Patron Reviews
Martin McDonagh and Jobsite are like chocolate and peanut butter. They were made to go together … Every aspect of the show is worthy of a rave review … This is the type of thing Jobsite excels at … GO SEE THIS SHOW! – David Hood
I saw it last night, and WOW!! Stellar cast, tremendous show! 
– Elizabeth Jay
Whoa! What a show! So good. Absolutely exceptional acting, lighting, sound- everything. – Lorinda Gamson
Great performance! We loved it!!!!! – Tiffany Schilling
I experienced the second preview performance of this production, and it is a standout. It has strong performance and production value. Congratulations to Director Paul Potenza and the entire team … High-quality work from everyone … Plan a date and get your tickets now – Brian Shea
Bravo to some feckin fine performances all around! Sláinte to a brilliant opening night! 
– Colleen Cherry
This was really an excellent performance. Casting was perfect for this play. They should do McDonagh every season. – James Gallagher
really enjoyed the show among the best jobsite shows i have ever seen. – @gamzulatov
The Beauty Queen of Leenane” is the best play I have ever seen. Y’all, I’m telling you I grew up going to plays and performing in a couple and supporting my friends in the theater — I even went to see the Alabama Shakespeare Co. repeatedly in college and who does that? I’ve seen a lot of plays. Well-written and perfectly executed by David and the team at Jobsite. There are only a few times in your life when you are genuinely moved by a piece of art and this is one of those times. There’s a single scene in the second act that I wanted to last for an hour. When have you ever said that? Get tickets to this play and go see it. It’s remarkable. – Chris Wilkerson
Very flattering and well deserved reviews. We had seen (and loved) The Banshees of Inisherin … but had no idea of the twists and turns in [Leenane]. The entire cast knocked it out of the park! – Michael Brooks
Dark, funny, sad; excellent – Desiree Fantal
You all carried me through a full range of emotions, and it took me the hour+ ride home to sort through them all. Bravo Jobsite, BRAVO! You always leave me wanting more, and impatient for the next show. – Susanne Dockery
Such a good play! – Rick Stutzel
This was so moving and I got emotional for Maureen at the end. You all were great!! Love Jobsite! – Judy Scott
This was an incredibly moving play that was a pleasure to watch. Still thinking about it days later…. – Sam Brightman
Such a great production of a great play! – Natalie Symons
Great work all around – congrats! – Jim Sorensen
Twenty-some years ago I saw Jobsite Theater’s original presentation of [BEAUTY QUEEN]. Today, I was fortunate enough to be enthralled by Jobsite’s latest restating … what a revelation … I don’t see much theatre nowadays but I’m glad I saw this show! – Michael Murphy
Truly an excellent production! – Robert Spence Gabriel
Excellent performance! – Mimi Topke
Amazing performances! – Mary Ann Keller
Loved the show. All of you were great, and Roxanne was over the top! – Hal Freedman
The play was so good!! Every actor was top notch! – Tanya Abresch
Fantastic performances. Saw this in NYC years ago and this production was just as good as I remember!