QUITE simply, this is a laughter-packed, tear-stained treat.

Plain, middle-aged Maureen is the daughter of Meg, a vicious, spiteful matriarch who keeps her tied to the small Irish village she has come to loathe. The return of Maureen's friend Pato to the village sparks a race for life that Maureen is determined to win, but her mother has other ideas.

The excellent cast brings this black comedy fizzing to life in the theatre's Forge studio, which can seem as intimate as a cell, yet, when a character is alone, as cavernous as an aircraft hangar.

Looking across the table at her mother, Stephanie Shipley as Maureen perfectly carries life's fading light in her embittered, narrowed eyes, keeping our sympathy and so adding to the impact of the final scenes which literally make you laugh and cry.

Cath Blower is chillingly comic as Meg, whose tyrannical emotional machinations can be seen in her every expression.

John O'Connell is also impressive as Pato, a beacon of decency and escape route for Maureen, but whose weakness is to believe that those around him are inherently good.

McDonagh's piece was showered with awards both here and in the USA when it first appeared in 1996, and it's easy to see why.

The Beauty Queen of Leenane by Martin McDonagh . Bolton Little Theatre until September 20