BT39 – Term 2, Week 5Martin McDonagh, “The Beauty Queen of Leenane”

Geography• How is the play’s location presented in performance?• Naturalistically?• Abstractly?

• What physical locations matter to the play’s characters?• Real-world• Real-world, as imagined• Purely imaginary

• Relatedly: what, if any, values are attached to these locations?• Aspirational?• Judgmental?• Negative?

Violence• What damage is done, or implied, to bodies during the play? • How is this damage represented on the bodies of the actual

actors?• Onstage vs. offstage• Stylized vs. “realistic” representation• Point of contrast: “Sport of My Mad Mother” vs. “Beauty Queen”

• Is this violence punished, or allowed to remain unpunished?• What training would be required of actors to perform this

violence?• Stage combat, gesture

• How, if at all, is the audience implicated in this violence?• Bodies attract sympathy• Abstract violence may invite detachment

Accent• How are the play’s characters divided, or gathered, by accent?• How is this accent rendered in print: • Exaggerated or naturalistic?• Asserted in stage directions, or given in print (spelling,

punctuation)?