Joe Hill-Gibbins wows critics with 2011 revival of ‘The Beauty Queen of Leenane’

Tuesday, 30 August 2011

Since his first revival of Martin McDonagh’s celebrated play The Beauty Queen of Leenane in the summer of 2010, director Joe Hill-Gibbins has received nothing but praise for his productions. The first revival won over both press and public, and his subsequent production of Tennesee Williams’ The Glass Menagerie, premiered at The Young Vic in November 2010, reinforced critical opinion of him as a directorial force to be reckoned with.

It is unsurprising, then, that Hill-Gibbins’ newest revival of McDonagh’s The Beauty Queen of Leenane – running until 3 September – is also a winner. According to the critics, Hill-Gibbins manages to capture the duality of McDonagh’s work a second time, achieving a tone at once tragic and comic that completely befits the play’s plot and setting.

Here are some highlights from the reviews of the 2011 revival production:

“As director, Joe Hill-Gibbins honours McDonagh’s vision of that stultifying world absolutely, adhering to the text so faithfully you would think he were [sic] dealing with Beckett.” – The Guardian

“an almost diabolically effective piece of theatre, as is proved anew by Joe Hill-Gibbins’s pitch-perfect, blackly hilarious revival, now making a return to the Young Vic after a sell-out run last summer.” – The Independent

“[a] gloriously funny, near-flawless revival” – The Telegraph

“Unmissable. Again” – This is London (Evening Standard)

“[a] terrific production” – What’s On Stage