Ryan ChartrandWhat does a Quentin Tarantino movie have to do with an Irish play about a mother and daughter’s relationship? “Explosive violence,” said Cal Poly theatre professor Pamela Malkin.
Malkin will direct the regional premiere of Martin McDonagh’s darkly comical play, “The Beauty Queen of Leenane,” which will appear at Cal Poly’s Spanos Theatre May 16 through 19.
McDonagh’s favorite movie director is Tarantino, and one can see the resemblance in his work, Malkin said.
“Beauty Queen” has very bleak moments, yet still manages to be funny. “You laugh at the same time as you cringe,” Malkin said.
The ride home from the theater won’t be a somber experience. “It is eminently sad when you see characters dissolving,” Malkin explained, but “life is full of humor, even when we see sad things happening.”
“The Beauty Queen of Leenane” focuses on the relationship between 40-year-old Maureen and her 70-year-old mother, Mag. Mag is messy, slovenly, selfish and cruel. Maureen’s life revolves around taking care of Mag, and her world becomes “unbearably and unspeakably small as she cares for a woman she hates,” Malkin described.
The small set compliments Maureen’s shrinking world.
Theater-goers will be seated on a thrust stage, meaning the audience will sit on stage, three quarters of the way around the set. This creates more intimacy between the characters and their audience. Viewers will surround the resemblance of a cramped, lower-middle class cottage, set in the Irish village of Leenane in 1989.
“The smallness of the set emphasizes the smallness and despair of the characters’ lives,” Malkin explained. “This is a claustrophobic home.”
Maureen’s daily routine is broken when Pato, a middle-aged construction worker, and his brother Ray, a hip and edgy 19-year-old, enter her life. Maureen has a romantic attraction to Pato, which could lead her to escape from her mother.
“Her one chance for an emotional life away from her mother is severely challenged,” Malkin said.
“Beauty Queen” features four student actors, whom Malkin calls working with “a terrific luxury.”
Malkin has no doubts about the actors’ abilities to master an Irish accent before the play’s premiere.
The play is “written in the cadence of how they speak,” Malkin said. “You cannot say these lines in an American accent,” she emphasized.
A dialect coach was hired by the theatre and dance department and is currently working with the actors. The coach helped determine which students adapted to the accent during casting and will spend over 40 more hours working with the students. “They’ll all get it down,” Malkin said.
Performing in an accent has professional benefits for the individual actors. Being able to adapt one’s voice to different dialects is often a technical requirement directors will look for, Malkin said.
In addition to learning to speak in an Irish dialect, the actors will be learning about Irish history and culture.
The play will serve as a four-unit course for the four students acting in the play. But don’t think students can sign up for a lead acting role just like they sign up for classes. Casting is very competitive, and is not limited to theatre majors or even Cal Poly students.
“The Beauty Queen of Leenane” features two theatre majors, one chemistry major, and one Cuesta student, Malkin said. She estimated that 60 percent of students who act in Cal Poly performances are theatre majors, and 40 percent are non-theatre majors.
“There’s talent everywhere at Cal Poly,” Malkin said.
Stephanie Agron graduated from Cal Poly’s theatre program in December 2006. She appeared in over 12 plays while at Cal Poly, including “Macbeth,” “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest,” “Roundheads and Pointedheads,” and “The Crucible.”
“It’s really accessible to get involved in the program,” Agron said. She credits the program’s small size in giving her lots of experience, both on stage and behind the scenes. Malkin estimates the department accepts 60 theatre majors each year
“You get an ample amount of practice and information about all aspects of theatre,” she said.
Theatre isn’t limited to acting. The theatre and dance department fosters designers, technicians, costumers, directors, and people involved in all ingredients of theater production.
But what if students have future plans that don’t involve working in the theater?
Business senior Ryan Curtis plans to go into finance when he graduates. What of his theatre minor? Curtis plans to use his theatrical abilities in the business profession.
“When I’m presenting in front of an office it’s the same skill,” Curtis said. Being able to command attention in a room and make oneself heard is a valuable lesson for anyone. Besides, “it’s fun,” he said.
Biochemistry senior Peter Anaradian has always found theatre interesting. He is pursuing a minor in the subject as a break from more rigid science classes. Anaradian believes theatrical experience adds to being well-rounded and “gives a more personal touch to being a doctor,” his career goal.
Malkin advises all students to explore theatre and attend performances in the same way many explore sports, art, and major classes when entering the big wide world of college.
“Theatre should be an integral part of most university students’ education,” she said. “I hope as many students as possible make theater-going a habit they carry into their lives.”