Yael Stone and Noni Hazlehurst join STC’s Beauty Queen of Leenane cast
Yael Stone and Noni Hazlehurst (pictured) have joined the cast of Sydney Theatre Company's The Beauty Queen of Leenane, which will play at the Roslyn Packer Theatre this November. Yael will play Maureen Folan and Noni will play her mother Mag in the Martin McDonagh comedy, directed by STC Associate Director Paige Rattray. They join a cast which also includes Shiv Palekar and Toby Schmitz.
In a small town in the Irish hills of Connemara, Maureen Folan lives a lonely existence with Mag, her aged mother. Their relationship is more arm wrestle than warm embrace. Right now, when Maureen stands the chance of having her first romantic relationship, Mag’s cantankerous presence is simply unbearable.
This play was the first big hit for McDonagh who went on to pen the Broadway and West End hits The Pillowman and The Lieutenant of Inishmore, as well as films such as In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.
Yael Stone has worked extensively in the Australian film, television and theatre industry; the NIDA graduate began acting professionally at thirteen years old. Yael is well known for her portrayal of Lorna Morello in Orange is the New Black (Netflix), which has been honoured with the SAG Award for Outstanding Comedy Ensemble in 2015, 2016 & 2017, and nominated for the 2014 and 2015 Emmy Awards for Outstanding Comedy and Outstanding Drama.
In 2019 Noni Hazlehurst stars in the soon-to-be-released feature film, June Again. Other recent film credits include Ladies in Black, Truth, The Mule and The Broken Shore. Her recent TV credits include A Place to Call Home (Foxtel), The End (Foxtel and Sky UK), The Letdown (Giant Dwarf and the ABC) and Redfern Now.
In 2016 Noni completed sell-out tours of the one-woman stage production, Mother, which was nominated for a Helpmann Award, and in 2018 reprised the show at Belvoir Theatre followed later that year by a sell-out season at QPAC for which she received the Matilda Award for Best Performance by an Actress. The play returns to QPAC in 2020.
Noni was the 2016 inductee into the Logies Hall of Fame. She is the winner of two Best Actress Awards for the film Bitter and Twisted, four AFIs for Little Fish, Waiting at the Royal, Fran and Monkey Grip, and two Logies for the mini-series’ Waterfront and Ride on Stranger. She has also received an Order of Australia and an Honorary Doctorate of Philosophy from Flinders University.
The Beauty Queen of Leenane By Martin McDonagh. 18 Nov – 21 Dec. Roslyn Packer Theatre. Opening Night: Fri 22 Nov.