Mother and daughter Mag and Maureen seem to be trapped together. Maureen dreams of escape while Mag fears she will be abandoned. Meanwhile they get their fun by swapping silly demands and insults in a game of one-upmanship which has gone on for years.

Director Sandra Williams believes the play is far more than just a black comedy: "It's true that in a contemporary way the play captures the gritty realism of a dismal small town which offers none of life's social and emotional amenities to transform its characters into interesting personalities. In addition it explores Irish would-be emigrant mentality.

"However, in many ways it is not a modern play at all. It's reminiscent of old-fashioned melodrama with a clear plot underpinned by a classic mother-daughter tumultuous relationship. Neither is it a 'black comedy' but rather a dark tale peppered with black humour.

"This play can be funny and entertaining on the one hand, and on the other it can be moving and extremely disturbing. The line between comedy and tragedy is always extremely fine, and in this play it is as precarious and taut as a high wire."

Both cast and director have tried to capture the spirit of this isolated Connemara village by getting the accents as precise as possible. Sandra explains: "While it is possible to obtain dialect tapes from libraries and script publishers, we called on the support of Vincent McLoughlin from Egton Bridge in North Yorkshire who has family in County Galway. Vincent persuaded old family friends to make specific language tapes for us.

"The play only has four characters and we have been working very hard to try and ensure that all of them speak with a similar rhythm and have a similar sound. Accents can be very difficult for actors - to be successful it's not just about being able to mimic a few lines but you have to sustain a specific sound for an entire performance."

Next-door neighbours Freda Denbigh and Gilly Rogers star as the mother-daughter duo.

Bingley Little Theatre present the Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh at Bingley Arts Centre from January 17th to January 22nd.