The world premiere of Tom Swift’s new musical play Pretty Vacant is one of the highlights of a brilliantly curated Fringe Festival. We sat down with Tom and lead actor Emmet Kirwan to find out “Who is Dublin for?”
As the curtain opens in Tailors’ Hall, one of Dublin’s oldest civic buildings, audiences will be left to face one question amidst Dublin’s housing crisis: ‘What is a city for and who is it for?’ The upcoming musical Pretty Vacant tackles this through satire, Euro-pop, and a theatrical experience that breaks the invisible barrier between performers and the audience.
The show’s creator, playwright Tom Swift, explained the real-world experiences that inspired him to start developing the musical: “We’re in the middle of a housing crisis, and the question that started it all off was why are there so many vacant properties, dereliction? Why aren’t these buildings being used for what they should be used [for], which is for housing people, for providing facilities?”
The Performance Corporation, founded by Swift and director Jo Mangan, creates immersive theatrical experiences, engaging communities through site-specific productions. Bringing audiences into a fictional community consultation at Tailors’ Hall, in the heart of The Liberties, Pretty Vacant achieves exactly that. Swift remarks, “the play starts before you even go in the door … we’re hoping that when the audience arrives, even on the street outside Tailors’ Hall, a bit of the play will already have begun. You might see characters that you’ll meet later, but you might not know that they’re characters in the play.”
Expanding on the role of audience immersion in Pretty Vacant, lead actor Emmet Kirwan adds, “The audience[s] are coming into something that seems to be almost like a corporate event, but actually then descends into satire and music and dancing.”
Noting that “for some people, theater is a bit intimidating, even to go into that kind of space,” Swift hopes this unique approach will shatter the fourth wall, inviting audiences to become participants in the musical rather than merely spectators.
This community-centered approach extends beyond the site-specific location into actual conversations that influenced the creation of Pretty Vacant. Digging deeper into the housing concerns in Dublin, The Performance Corporation took a walking tour of The Liberties, led by local Anthony Freeman. “When we did the tour, we realized, oh my God, this is a microcosm of all of these issues that we’ve been talking about,” said Swift.
Unfortunately, despite being considered Dublin’s most historic working-class area, The Liberties embody a part of Dublin where corporate greed is being placed above community needs. During the tour, Swift learned from Anthony Freeman that “If there is development happening, most of it is led by big property firms, development companies––companies that are building new aparthotels, new tourist accommodation[s]. Very little of this really serves the local needs and the local community. And you’re looking at an area where there are a lot of local needs. It’s one of the most densely populated areas, not only in Dublin but in the entire country, and yet they don’t have a proper football pitch.”
Yet, exploring the area also revealed something equally profound: “the sense of humour, sort of the craic, the energy, the unique culture that was there,” Swift exclaimed.
Confronted with an area in crisis that is simultaneously known for being lively and funny, the musical Pretty Vacant was born. Swift explains, “We came up with this idea that it has to be a musical and it has to be funny, because if you took it too seriously, you’d be crying … we hope by approaching this in a satirical, comedic way that we will engage more people than if we had gone through a really serious, very kind of po-faced approach.”
Kirwan echoes Swift’s sentiment on the importance of satire in addressing real-world challenges, recalling its roots in Ancient Greece: “In Greek drama essentially they would do the three series plays, and then they’d have the satyr play, the play that essentially satirizes the events of the play that have happened beforehand, or the more serious real world drama.”
Affirming the power of theatrical satire, Kirwan said, “It has a role to play when the situations that it is talking about have got beyond funny … when the reality of them is actually that they are more real than the satirized subject matter. It’s a way for people to essentially deal with something that seems to be an impenetrable subject matter to talk about anymore because everyone goes, what are you going to do? So, often satire can shine a light on something in a different way by showing people the absurdity that is a real-world problem.”
The show also stars actress Ruth McGill who plays Carmilla, a former Eurovision contestant representing Ireland who now works for a property development company. Swift explained the unique decision of having a former Eurovision sensation as the lead, saying, “It’s like a lot of things when there’s big companies who want to do less than positive things, they always have to have a sort of public face, friendly face. So the character of Carmilla falls into that kind of category, and it’s a bit of fun. It gives us that inroad into using all those different Eurovision styles of music.”
Kirwan described the two roles that he will be playing alongside Ruth McGill: “One of them is quite funny, an Austrian tourist who is obsessed with organs … I play another part called Skippy McHugh, who is a socialist TD (member of Ireland’s parliament).” Elaborating on what audiences can expect, he added that the show is “about 10 new songs interspersed with really funny characters who are kind of the creation of one. I don’t want to give too much away, but one of the main characters, it seems to be a fever dream that they’re having, and all these almost Alice in Wonderland-type characters who you might see in a touristified city … interact with this person in this event.”
Staying true to the community-centered approach of the musical, Swift recounted some of the real-world voices most present in the script: “I mean obviously Anthony, who is the local community worker. … He was super inspiring in terms of kickstarting the project, so much so that we invited him to be part of the show, so now he is going to be in the show, so very much a local voice. We’re also working with Richie Power, who does the Chats in the Flats Instagram channel, which captures local voices, and he’s going to work with us on a segment in the show, which will be a filmed part.
But one of the most inspiring people that we met was a lady called Liz O’Connor, who’s an activist, a mother, and a woman who lives in the Oliver Bond flat complex. She was one of the people who just was very vocal about the needs of the local community. So we interviewed her, and actually her voice clips from that interview have made it into the soundtrack of the show. … Even stories that she told us made it into some of the songs that we wrote.”
Asking Swift what he hopes audiences will be left with after viewing the show, he replied: “We’re very aware in making the piece that there’s that temptation to feel like you’re making change and kind of that art can change the world. Well, mostly, unfortunately, it can’t. But at least with this piece, raising people’s awareness is the big goal for us: making people think about the processes that are going on in the city and who’s in control. It’s really a call for people to get involved in their local democracy and in the things that are going on in their city and not just sit back because I guess we’re all guilty of that.
Things change in the city all the time, and we complain and say, ‘Why did they? Why did they tear that building down? Why are there so many hotels and not enough housing?’ But ultimately it’s about being more vocal and being more conscious about those kinds of issues, and hopefully that’s what maybe this play can achieve, if anything.”
Encouraging creative expression of community issues, the 2026 Dublin Fringe Festival hosts the perfect platform for Pretty Vacant’s premiere. The entire 16-day festival, which runs from September 5th-20th, will introduce bold performances invigorating audiences across the streets of Dublin.
Speaking to the instrumental role Dublin Fringe has played in facilitating The Performance Corporation’s success, Swift says, “We started in the Fringe––24 years ago was our very first show, which was called Candide, and [it] did well for us and launched our company in many ways. They’ve been super encouraging, and I think the Fringe, particularly this year, has been looking for work that really engages with communities and really engages with local issues that people are concerned with. So when they heard about the show, they were really positive, and as I said, we’re really happy to be part of the festival this year.”
Swift recognizes “The cast we have, we’re incredibly lucky to have. We’ve got Emmet [Kirwan], Ruth McGill, Sarah Ashton O’Mara. I shouldn’t name-check them all, but they’re just incredibly talented. So this is a group of people who can sing, who can dance, who can do comedy.”
Utilizing a talented cast of performers, Pretty Vacant doesn’t hold back in taking creative risks: “It kind of goes to a mad place quite quickly,” says Swift. “So I think the audience will have to be ready for that, and I hope that we haven’t gone over the top. I’m excited to put it up in front of a live audience and see the reaction, and hopefully it lands.”
Beneath the lighthearted, satirical nature of Pretty Vacant remains a mounting housing challenge confronting Dubliners. Speaking to the central question of the musical––’what is a city for and who is it for’––Swift questions, “Is it for the citizens? Is it to provide a safe, sustainable place for people to rear their children [and] bring up their families? Or is it purely a tourist-driven, developer-driven space?” As the curtain closes in Tailors’ Hall, it will now be up to the audience to decide how to proceed as they reflect on this punchy satirical adventure.
Words: Ashley Barcroft
Feature Image – Ruth McGill by Eoin Norton
Pretty Vacant will premiere at the Dublin Fringe Festival this September in Tailors Hall, Tailors’ Back Lane, Dublin 8, D08 X2A3
Tuesday September 15th – Friday September 18th, 7.30pm, Sat & Sun September 19th and 20th 2.30pm and 7.30pm.
