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Poster for ``The Beauty Queen of Leenana,'' a drama that will be adapted for the Korean stage and will run from Jan. 14 to Feb. 26 at Doosan Art Center in central Seoul
/ Courtesy of Musical Heaven |
By Chung Ah-young
Staff Reporter
"The Beauty Queen of Leenane," a 1996 drama by Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, renowned for "The Pillowman," will premiere in Korea next year.
The Tony award-winning play is a mix of black comedy, melodrama, horror and bleak tragedy.
Set in the Irish village of Leenane, Connemara in the late 1980s, the play revolves around the life of Maureen Folan, a 40-year-old spinster who lives with her domineering 70-year-old mother, Mag. Her sisters are married but Maureen, with a record of mental illness, is trapped in a dysfunctional relationship with her mother.
Pato Dooley, a middle-aged construction worker weary of life, and his irresponsible brother Ray visit the Folan cottage. There is a brief chance of romance between Maureen and Pato but one can feel that Leenane is not the place for happy endings.
This drama is filled with deceptions, secrets and betrayals.
The Korean adaptation is directed by Lee Hyun-jung. She said that the Korean version will be different from the original work to some degree. "I haven't seen the original work so I can reinterpret the play in a unique and creative way for the Korean audience," said Lee.
"I will put more emphasis on the characters' psychiatric changes by allowing them to transcend time and space, and by mixing realistic and surrealistic elements, which are different from the realistic portrayals of the original play."
The director said that the play depicts lonely people who want to be loved and delves into their awkward love and quest for forgiveness. "I think the drama is a love story of those who don't know how to love," she said.
The play is the first licensed performance co-produced by the Noname Theater Company, Musical Heaven and Doosan Art Center.
McDonagh wrote "The Beauty Queen of Leenane," his first play, in eight days in 1996 at the age of 25. He is highly praised as "the genius playwright of the 21st century" and a"post-Shakespeare." McDonagh is also known for his short-film directions such as "Six Shooter" and ``In Bruges."
"The Beauty Queen of Leenane" will be staged from Jan. 14 to Feb. 28 at Doosan Art Center in central Seoul. Tickets cost 25,000 won. For more information, call (02) 744-4011.
chungay@koreatimes.co.kr |
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