The Beauty of Queen Leenane by Martin McDonagh

The Beauty Queen of Leenane is a powerful reflection on relationships and mental health. It focuses on the demanding relationship between Maureen and her elderly mother Mag, while raising questions about the lengths people are sometimes driven to. As an audience we swing wildly between the two protagonists, feeling empathy and horror in equal measure. The text offers a great deal for students in terms of performance. It will present challenges, but it also lends itself to a wide range of interpretations, allowing students to experiment with their skills.

This scheme of work is primarily designed to offer activities to develop students’ understanding of the text as well as providing ideas for performance. The activities can all be used after a group has read the text; however, as the text twists and turns, it would also be useful to read the text and use each activity as a small section of text is read.

Number of lessons: 5