THE BEAUTY QUEEN OF LEENANE to Open Round House Theatre's 2013-14 Season, 8/21

Round House Theatre launches its 2013/2014 Bethesda season with the hauntingly humorous tragicomedy The Beauty Queen of Leenane by esteemed playwright Martin McDonagh, which runs August 21 thru September 15. Director Jeremy Skidmore returns to Round House with this Tony and Drama Desk Award-winning black comedy. Opening night is Monday, August 26, 2013.

Maureen, a lonely spinster in her forties, lives with her diabolically manipulative mother Mag in an isolated cottage in a backwater village in the west of Ireland. Mag whines and bullies to get her way while Maureen resentfully fulfills her mother's every command. When Maureen is offered a last chance at love, she sees a chance to escape. But Mag has other ideas, setting in motion a chain of deceptions, secrets, and betrayals that are both heartbreaking and hilarious. The Beauty Queen of Leenane is an evocative dark comedy ripe with savage irony and horrifying surprises.

The cast features Kimberly Gilbert, Joe Mallon, Sarah Marshall, and Todd Scofield. The creative team includes: scenic designer Tony Cisek, costume designer Frank Labovitz, lighting designer Dan Covey, sound designer Eric Shimelonis, props master Pamela Weiner, assistant director Marie Sproul, and stage manager Che Wernsman.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane runs August 21 thru September 15, 2013 with performances on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday at 7:30pm, Fridayand Saturday at 8pm; with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 3pm. Opening night is Monday, August 26, 2013. Please note: there is no performance on Tuesday, August 27.

Tickets range in price from $10 to $45 and may be purchased by calling 240.644.1100, by ordering online at www.roundhousetheatre.org, or at Round House's box office in Bethesda. Round House Theatre Bethesda is located at 4545 East-West Highway, one block from Wisconsin Avenue and the Bethesda station on Metro's Red Line.

AUDIENCE EVENTS:

Designer Discussion (with the costume, set, lighting, and sound designers): Wednesday, August 21 at 6:45pm

Director Discussion (with Jeremy Skidmore): Friday, August 23 at 7:15pm

Post-Show Talkbacks: Wednesday, August 21 thru Sunday, August 25, Sunday, September 1, and Sunday, September 8

Audio-described performance: Saturday, August 31 at 3pm

Sign-interpreted performance: Saturday, September 14 at 3pm. Reservations for sign interpreting services must be made by August 31.

Martin McDonagh (Playwright) is considered one of the most important living Irish playwrights. His first play, The Beauty Queen of Leenane premiered in 1996 in Galawy, Ireland and has since been produced on London's West End, Off Broadway, and Broadway. Beauty Queen won the Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play, the Drama League Award for Best Play, and the Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Broadway Play, as well as a Tony Award nomination for Best Play. The play is the first installment of his trilogy set in Leenane, a small village on the west coast of Ireland. The other plays in this trilogy are A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West (1997 Tony Award nominee for Best Play). His second trilogy, set across a trio of islands that are located off the coast of County Galway, include The Cripple of Inishmaan (1997), The Lieutenant of Inishmore (2003 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Comedy; 2006 Tony Award nominee for Best Play), and The Banshees of Inisheer. McDonagh's more recent plays include The Pillowman (2004 Laurence Olivier Award for Best Play; 2005 Tony Award nominee for Best Play) and A Behanding in Spokane. He also wrote and directed the films Six Shooter (2006 Academy Award for Best Live Action Short Film), In Bruges (2009 BAFTA Film Award for Best Screenplay), andSeven Psychopaths.

Jeremy Skidmore (Director) previously directed Bengal Tiger at the Baghdad Zoo and My Name Is Asher Lev for Round House Theatre. He has been based in Washington, DC for the last 12 years where he served for two years as President of the Capital Talent Agency, two years as Producer of the Source Festival, and six years as the Artistic Director of Theater Alliance. Jeremy is an Associate Artist with Signature Theatre where he has directed The Lieutenant of Inishmore, Dirty Blonde, and Crave. Other projects in the DC area include Bell for The National Geographic Society, A Few Good Men for Keegan Theatre, Never the Sinner for 1st Stage, New Jerusalem for Theater J (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Production), Angels in America for Forum Theatre (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Direction and Production), The Pavilion for The Hub Theatre, If You Give a Moose a Muffin for Adventure Theatre, Art for Everyman Theatre, Stuff Happens for Olney Theatre, The Gingham Dog for African Continuum Theatre, After the Flood for Rorschach Theatre, The Learned Ladies for Catalyst Theatre, and Tales From Ovid, Slaughter City, Painted Alice, The Dispute, Mary's Wedding (Helen Hayes nomination for Outstanding Direction and Production), Gross Indecency, Blue/Orange, and Ambition Facing West for Theater Alliance. Outside of DC, Jeremy has directed, produced, or taught in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Atlanta, London, Oslo, Galway, Kilimanjaro, Tokyo, Macau, and Tai Pei. Jeremy is a Member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, has a BFA in Directing from the North Carolina School of the Arts, and an MBA from American University.

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