Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2019 – A Fear and Loathing Actor in Dublin

Choose a house. Choose a spa break. Choose a car. Choose money and security. Choose to sell out or stay true to yourself.

A roller coaster snapshot of the challenges facing Irish artists today

Featuring relatable soul searching, this thought provoking and energetic play addresses the challenges faced by artists when confronted with ‘normal’ life stages, such as becoming a parent.

Mark McAuley, cast as struggling actor Vinny in the performance, is also an award winning filmmaker. A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin premiered in Dublin in 2018. The production asks if artists can follow their creative urges and still meet their responsibilities.

We met up with McAuley recently and here is what he had to say about the play :

Written in a raw Beat Generation style, we follow Vinny over the course of three weeks in Dublin as he tries to come to terms with impending fatherhood. He goes to a film casting, lands a role in a play and is approached for a TV series. But Vinny falls into a spiral of drug use, alcohol and debt. 

Celebrated for his roles in TV shows including Vikings and Into the Badlands, and short films Closing Time, Tomorrow and the forthcoming The Break Up, in A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin McAuley delivers fast paced, physical theatre with stream of consciousness dialogue. Featuring Shakespearian monologues, the character Vinny splits into his ‘inner self’ and ‘outer self’ (played by different actors) to highlight the battle raging in his head at moments of crisis.

Renowned worldwide for its music, literature, theatre and visual arts, Ireland is facing a cultural crisis. With Irish artists struggling to pay crippling rents in the country’s capital, a third of which earn less than the minimum wage and live on the poverty line, emigration to the UK in search of higher income has become commonplace. A Fear and Loathing Actor In Dublin, accurately reflects this societal and economic issue, significantly impacting on the creative landscape and talent of Ireland.

Accompanying Mark McAuley on stage is Gary Buckley as INNER VINNY. His recent roles include TV series Vikings, feature film South and short Bad Choices. Lisa Tyrell’s (SASHA) theatre experience includes: The Kill God, Risk, Absolute Beginners; and filmsFour Kids and It (with Michael Caine), Urban Traffik and TV series Ripper Street. Completing the cast is Fiach Kunz (TOM/CARLITO/PADDY/BARMAN), whose theatre credits include Extremities (New Theatre) and King Lear (The Mill Theatre, Dundrum). Kunz also plays a supporting role in The Anderson Corporation Will Change Your Life, with TV work including Game of Thrones, Into The Badlands and Resistance. 

In 2019, in support of Irish artists, over 300 actors, directors, designers and playwrights staged their own rebellion, at the Abbey Theatre’s practice of co-producing shows and the damaging effects of this decision on the domestic theatre industry. 

A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin highlights that despite artists promoting ‘Brand Ireland’, they are not often not paid fairly. Arts and culture need to be protected. Artists need to be protected. Without them, we would be devoid of Netflix, Spotify or books to read…..a life more ordinary.

Mark McAuley, playwright, said: “I’m very excited and proud to be bringing A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin to the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. It’s an amazing opportunity to showcase the play and the brilliant actors on an international platform. This new piece of writing reflects modern Ireland to a worldwide theatre audience. Edinburgh is a fantastic shop window and I’m hoping to tour the play to London, Ireland and New York in 2019/2020. Edinburgh is the World Cup of theatre festivals, and we want to play with the best.”



Lee Wilson, Director (Running With Dinosaurs, Pork, The Eurydice Project) is a well-known Director of Shakespeare in Canada, and has worked at Stratford and Shaw Festivals.

He is currently doing a residency as an Apprentice Artistic Director at the Gate Theatre in Dublin:
“A background in the classics has fuelled my love for the actor’s journey. A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin examines one such powerful journey.”

A Fear And Loathing Actor In Dublin, by Irish playwright Mark McAuley, has its UK premiere at C cubed from 14 August 2019.

Venue: C cubed, venue 50, Edinburgh Festival Fringe
Dates: 14-26 August 
Time: 15:45 (1hr05)
Ticket prices: £9.50-£11.50 / conc £7.50-£9.50 / under 18 £5.50-£7.50
Venue box office: 0131 581 5555/ www.CtheFestival.com
Fringe box office:0131 226 0000 / www.edfringe.com