If you're interested in seeing some terrific acting, go watch Colleen McDonnell and Diana Rogers face off in Martin McDonagh's The Beauty Queen of Leenane. It's a spectacular combat: McDonnell as the angry 40-year-old mentally troubled Maureen, who hates looking after her mother and lets her know it; and Rogers as the 70-year-old ogress Mag, who despises her daughter but can't imagine living without her. It's hard to guess who'll get the upper hand here. Rogers' Mag may be infirm, but she's got so much malicious energy, it's a wonder that Brian Smallheer's kitchen set doesn't collapse from the evil vibrations. And McDonnell's Maureen is no easy victim. She's got years of frustration burning away within her, and her bitterness is only a few steps away from violence.

You think the play sounds gloomy? Well, there's nothing somber about seeing two brilliant actresses at work together, and that's precisely what you'll find at the Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center this weekend. Call it McDonnell/Rogers in tribute to Ali/Frazier and Dempsey/Tunney. And don't think you know the victor till the curtain falls as this is a cannily deceptive slugfest with no rules.

There are also no rules where real artistic talent is concerned. That's surely the case with Beauty Queen's author, Martin McDonagh. With this play, as with The Cripple of Inishmaan, McDonagh shows himself to be the genuine article, a major writer with an original vision and some resonant stories to tell. True, Beauty Queen doesn't have the scope of Cripple, but it's nonetheless a potent, memorable tale of hope, despair and cross-purposes.

It's about plain, frustrated Maureen, who sees her chances for happiness slipping away as she devotes herself to the care of her aged, nasty mother. But then hope arrives in the person of Pato, an old acquaintance who's been living in England but is briefly back in Ireland. Maureen, whose love life up to now has consisted of two kisses, convinces Pato to spend the night with her. One thing leads to another and eventually Pato asks Maureen to move with him to Boston. But mother Mag is malevolently set on keeping Maureen to herself and is ready to use her wiles toward that end.

Will Maureen — whom Pato calls "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" — have a chance at love and self-respect, or will Mag prevail?

Not till the very end will you know the answer, but you'll enjoy Maureen and Mag's struggle all the way.

Rogers as Mag is particularly impressive, planted in her rocking chair, wearing an old pink bathrobe and communicating through her eyes alone all the cunning and savagery of an aging tigress. And McDonnell as Maureen is no sad little innocent. She's as mean-spirited and abusive as her mother and she's willing to go to any lengths to punish the older woman for her selfishness.

As Pato, Ned Averill-Snell provides a solid, likable performance, if one lacking in nuance. But as Pato's brother Ray, David M. Jenkins seems to be more concerned with getting laughs than with finding the truth of his character.

Paul J. Potenza's direction is mostly first-class, as is Brian Smallheer's set of a sparsely adorned working-class kitchen, complete with the inevitable small TV, kettles on the stove and a crucifix on the wall. And Katrina Stevenson's costumes are just right; there's a world of meaning in the contrast between the mismatched clothes Maureen wears when she has no one to dress for but her ma, and the short, sexy black dress she puts on in the hopes of enticing Pato. Finally, I have to applaud Dickie Corley's sound design, featuring just enough Irish music to place us right there in Leenane with the cast.

But the real story here is that heavyweight match-up, McDonnell/Rogers. If like me, you find top-notch acting thrilling, you won't want to miss this opportunity to see two utter professionals show their stuff. One dances and jabs, but the other's a rock. One's obstreperously angry, but the other's quietly vicious. And neither fights fair.

Expect a furious combat.

Desperately Seeking Meaning Local author Ray Zacek's Desperados has everything going for it but an original vision. This isn't meant to sound caustic: The fact is, Zacek's a talented playwright and the Stageworks co-production with Gorilla Theatre features wonderful acting, admirable directing and fine design. But it takes more to make a successful production. We also have to feel that the author has something to say, that he's asked for two hours of our time because he has a perspective on life that takes two hours to unfold. And while Desperados has an interesting story, credible characters and often scintillating dialogue, it doesn't add up to anything. We don't really know more at play's end than we knew at the beginning. Zacek is, however, clearly skilled. If he'll just put that skill at the service of an important premise or a deeply held personal belief then we might find ourselves moved, changed, enlightened by his work. The key question is, what does Ray Zacek have to tell us?

Some high points of a largely enjoyable production: Petrus Antonius' wonderful portrayal of Pacheco, the worried, haunted proprietor of the Desert Aire Motel; Carl Donovan as his loudmouth friend and handyman Coyote; Mark Wood and Shannon K. Foley as two visitors to the motel who decisively impact Pacheco's and Coyote's lives; David Hirschman as the shaman/dope dealer Ringerman, who just wants to get laid; and Jack Amos as a policeman who doesn't like cussing. Theresa Zacek's deliberately unattractive, downscale set is just right for this seedy motel and Robin New's costumes couldn't be better. Oh yeah, I can't forget the three demons (Javier A. Milanes, Pearl Taylor, Joel Tucker) who trouble Pacheco's sleep. But the fact is, every actor in this show is top-notch.

Message to Zacek: we still don't know what you believe.

But you've given us every reason to want to find out.

Contact performing arts critic Mark E. Leib at mark.leib@weeklyplanet.com or call 813-248-8888, ext. 305.

This article appears in Apr 9-15, 2003.