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THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE

Martin McDonagh

Opening night May 4 Running through May 26, 2019

The extraordinary achievement of [The Beauty Queen of Leenane] is that it is wildly funny, deeply affecting and grotesquely macabre all at the same time.

Written by Academy Award-nominated writer Martin McDonagh (Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri), The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a groundbreaking, TONY Award-winning, wildly funny, and deeply shocking modern classic. Set in the mountains of Connemara, Ireland, it tells the story of Maureen Folen, a plain and lonely woman in her early forties; Mag, the aging, manipulative mother with whom she lives; and their toxic, caretaking relationship. When Mag interferes in Maureen’s first (and potentially last) romantic relationship, events are set in motion that are as tragically funny as they are horrific. Winner of the Drama Desk, Drama League, Lucille Lortel, and Outer Critics Circle Awards for best play, “McDonagh re-creates the traditional Irish family drama only to set it ablaze with a postmodern blowtorch.” –LA Times

The extraordinary achievement of [The Beauty Queen of Leenane] is that it is wildly funny, deeply affecting and grotesquely macabre all at the same time. —The Telegraph (UK)

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Meet The Cast

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Karen Sheridan

Mag Folen

Karen is delighted to be making her Detroit Public Theatre debut. She recently played astronomer Williamina Fleming in Silent Sky, actress Sarah Bernhardt in Memoir, and cat lover Betty in Chapatti—all Michigan premieres at Williamston Theatre. Other Michigan credits include Boeing Boeing, Dancing at Lughnasa, and Angels in America (Meadow Brook Theatre); and Other Desert Cities as performing understudy and Brighton Beach Memoirs (Jewish Ensemble Theatre). Chicago premieres include The Good Times are Killing Me (City Lit), In Trousers (WITT Productions), Les Liaisons Dangereuses (Interplay), Animal Farm (Bailiwick), and The Wind in the Willows (Organic Lab/Theatre Building), before hitting the road in the 2nd National Tour of Into the Woods. Karen has directed for Peninsula Players, Illinois Shakespeare Festival, the Attic Theatre, and Meadow Brook Theatre, among others. She went to Loyola University and has her MFA from the Goodman School of Drama/DePaul. Karen taught at the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College and currently teaches theatre at Oakland University. Here’s to the love of stories and the people in our lives who inspire them.

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Sarah Clare Corporandy

Maureen Folen

In addition to her role as Co-Founder and Producing Artistic Director with Detroit Public Theatre, Sarah Clare is entering her 11th season at Chautauqua Theater Company at the Chautauqua Institution in New York, where she serves as the Managing Director. During her time at CTC, she has also served as the line producer for the Inter-arts collaborations of The Romeo and Juliet Project and Go West. Sarah Clare served as Managing Director for Philadelphia’s celebrated interdisciplinary ensemble Pig Iron Theater Co. and as company manager for Barrington Stage and New York Stage & Film. She served as an artistic partner with the Canadian-American cross-border Breathe Art Theatre Project and on the advisory boards of New York Shakespeare Exchange and the Serenbe Playhouse in Georgia. From 2009-2012, Sarah Clare held a full-time professorship at Savannah College of Art and Design, teaching in the master’s program for arts administration on both the Savannah and Atlanta campuses and through their online eLearning program, for which she developed new course curricula. She currently serves as a professor at SCAD. Her work has been published in the International Journal of the Arts in Society.

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Michael Lopetrone

Ray Dooley

Michael is thrilled to be making his DPT debut! A graduate of Western Michigan University with a BA in Theatre Performance, he’s performed on stages across Metro Detroit and abroad. Recent credits include: The Glass Menagerie (Flint Repertory Theatre), The House On Poe Street (Detroit Repertory Theatre), and Silent Sky (Williamston Theatre). This summer, he can be seen in Tipping Point Theatre’s production of Anatomy Of A Hug. While not on stage, Michael has been a teaching artist at Matrix Theatre, done educational theatre work with University of Michigan, MSU, Henry Ford Hospital, and also designs websites and consults on digital marketing through his business, Milo Media. www.michaellopetrone.com

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Michael Brian Ogden

Pato Dooley

Michael is super excited to be returning to the DPT stage, especially with such an incredible cast! Many thanks to the ladies of DPT for putting together an unparalleled group of collaborators, and many more thanks to the ladies of his life—Lily and Steph—without whom he would be an absolute garbage person.

Meet The Creative Team

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Martin McDonagh

Playwright

Plays: THE PILLOWMAN (Tony nominee, Best Play 2005; Olivier Award Winner 2004), THE LIEUTENANT OF INISHMORE (Olivier Award Winner, Best Comedy 2003), THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE (Tony nominee, Best Play 1998), THE LONESOME WEST (Tony nominee, Best Play 1999), A SKULL IN CONNEMARA, THE CRIPPLE OF INISHMAAN, THE BANSHEES OF INISHEER, THE RETARD IS OUT IN THE COLD, DEAD DAY AT CONEY. Other works include “Barney Nenagh’s Shotgun Circus,” “Suicide on Sixth Street,” “In Bruges,” “Seven Psychopaths,” “Six Shooter” (Oscar, Best Short 2006).

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Andrew Borba

Director

Honored to be working here in Detroit and for DPT, Andrew is in his fourth season as Artistic Director of the renowned Chautauqua Theater Company and Conservatory, one of the best summer theaters and most competitive summer training programs in the country. He’s directed over fifteen productions at CTC from new works, Shakespeare, and plays that for some reason all take place in 1939, as well as the interdisciplinary pieces Mango Suite, Symphony of Sorrowful Songs, Ellis Island, and Go West! with the Chautauqua Symphony Orchestra, Chautauqua Dance Company and Chautauqua Opera in the 4,400-seat amphitheater. He has directed multiple productions in Los Angeles and New York, most notably the award-winning Hamlet, First Quarto at Theater of Note; as an educator, he has directed for and served on the faculty of some of the nation’s foremost actor training programs, including The Juilliard School (his alma mater) NYU’s Graduate Acting Program, University of Tennessee Knoxville, USC, UCLA, and UC Irvine. As an actor, Andrew has performed in theaters around the country, including South Coast Repertory, Pasadena Playhouse, The Globe Theatre, Berkeley Repertory, Oregon Shakespeare Festival (five​ seasons), Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis, Dallas Theater Center, Portland Stage Company, Long Wharf, and others. He has appeared in over fifty TV series as well as the films Straight Outta Compton, Interstellar, Taken 3, and Charlie Wilson’s War. Andrew is a graduate of Brown University and New York University. He lives in Los Angeles and is a professor of Acting in the MFA program at UC Irvine.

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Stephanie Buck

Assistant Director

Stephanie is proud to be back at Detroit Public Theatre. Though most of the time she can be found stage managing, her true passion lies in directing. Stephanie has directed for The Purple Rose, Shakespeare Royal Oak, BoxFest Detroit, Young People’s Theatre, as well as high school and college productions. She is thrilled to finally be working on a McDonagh piece and grateful to be in the room with so many talented artists. Stephanie would like to thank everyone in her village who helped care for Lily during this process. Super special thank you to Gigi, Papa, Nonno, and Nonna.

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Christianne Myers

Costume Designer

Christianne Myers  is a freelance costume designer and Associate Professor of Theatre & Drama at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. New York highlights include the Obie Award-winning productions of Music Theatre Group’s Running Man and Blue Light’s production of Dare Clubb’s Oedipus. Other design credits include productions for The Juilliard School, The Vermont Stage Company, The Lincoln Center Institute, The Clarence Brown Theatre, The Syracuse Stage, The Indiana Repertory Theatre, Theatreworks/USA, The Caldwell Theatre, The Irondale Ensemble, Opera Memphis, and The Santa Fe Opera. At U-M, she has designed more than thirty productions, including Henry IV, A Little Night Music, and Caroline, or Change. She is delighted to be back at DPT since designing Dot last season.

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Michaela Tanskley

Assistant Costume Designer

Michaela Tanksley is a University of Michigan graduate. This is her first season with Detroit Public Theatre. U-M: Passing Strange (CD), Blood at the Root (Assoc. CD), Insurrection: Holding History (CD), Ah, Wilderness! (CD), and Henry IV Part I (ACD). Other: Water Works Theatre Company, Much Ado About Nothing (ACD),and Redhouse, I Do! I Do! (ACD).

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Scott Bolman

Lighting Designer

Recent credits include: All Our Children (Sheen Center; NYC), Landscape with Figures (Contemporary Art Center New Orleans), Refuge Malja (Portland Stage), Alternating Currents (Working Theater; NYC), Airness (Chautauqua Theater Company), Failing to Levitate in my Studio (Athens & Epidaurus Festival; Athens, GR), SUTRA (Alfonso King LINES Ballet), and the exhibition The Hat Makes the Man (Max Ernst Museum; Brühl, DE). Scott is a founding member of Wingspace Design Collective, an organization of theater artists dedicated to promoting conversation, community and activism.

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Pegi Marshal

Props Designer & Props Master

Mother of twins, Union Scenic Designer, props artisan, set builder, scenic painter, and advocate for green and sustainable theatre practices. Once upon a time, Pegi professed to students at such places as Baltimore School for the Arts, Morgan State University, Wayne State University, University of North Carolina and California Polytechnic State University. Nowadays, she is happy to get a full night of sleep and overjoyed that her children are growing up witness to her making art for the stage with her beloved Mike James!

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Katherine Nelson

Production Stage Manager

Katherine has been stage managing with Detroit Public Theatre since its inaugural season, with highlights including the coproduction of Detroit ’67 with Baltimore Center Stage and the world premiere of Birthday Candles. They have also stage managed with the Wharton Center for the Performing Arts and Chautauqua Theater Company. Additionally, Katherine is a costume designer. Recent Off-Broadway design at The New Victory Theatre (Riddle of the Trilobites). In addition to design credits with Detroit Public Theatre, regional designs include shows with Purple Rose Theatre Company, Flint Youth Theatre, Flint Repertory Theatre (Wilde Award nomination: Best Costume Design, Riddle of the Trilobites), Tipping Point Theatre, Williamston Theatre, and the Wharton Center. They are a graduate of the Purple Rose Theatre Company apprenticeship program. Katherine is a proud member and National Councilor of Actors’ Equity Association. www.knelsondesigns.com. 

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Skyler Tarnas

Production Assistant Stage Manager

Skyler is proud to be assisting on his fifth Detroit Public Theatre show! A playwright and Ann Arbor resident, Skyler graduated from the University of Michigan in 2017 and has been trying to make himself a useful member of the theatre community ever since. His work most recently received a staged reading at Theatre Nova’s 2019 Michigan Playwrights Festival, and you can usually catch him performing in Ann Arbor’s Shakespeare in the Arb summer shows. He will be attending Northwestern University in the fall to obtain an MFA in Writing for the Screen and Stage. Thanks to DPT for all the support!

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