GAYS AGAINST THE FREE STATE!
By Oisín McKenna
Directed and Dramaturged by Colm Summers
Tiger Dublin Fringe
Smock Alley Theatre · Boys’ School
September 20–24, 2016
JUDGES' CHOICE AWARD NOMINEE
ABOUT
Made in the aftermath of Ireland’s 2015 marriage-equality referendum and during the centenary of the Easter Rising, Oisín McKenna’s Gays Against the Free State! asked who gets included when a country tells itself a story about progress. Drag, spoken word, live music, video, republican imagery and political satire collided inside a grotesque version of an RTÉ Prime Time debate, interrogating the respectable, white, middle-class and monogamous image of queerness that helped marriage equality win at the ballot box — and asking who remained outside it.
CREATIVE + PRODUCTION TEAM
Writer / Producer
Oisín McKenna
Director / Dramaturg
Colm Summers
Scenic Design
Eugenia Genunchi
Costume Design
Sorcha Ní Fhloinn
Composer
Séamus Ryan
Lighting Design
Tilly Taylor
AV Design
Hugo Lau
Production Manager
David Doyle
Stage Manager
Jennifer Aust
CAST
ENSEMBLE
Leonard Buckley
Eavan Gaffney
Sian Ní Mhuirí
Stephen Quinn
Oisín McKenna
OISÍN McKENNA
Oisín McKenna is an Irish writer and performer whose work across theater, spoken word, radio and fiction explores queerness, politics, class and contemporary life.
His subsequent work includes Admin, Total Enjoyment and Speak Softly, Go Far.
His debut novel, Evenings and Weekends, was published in 2024.
DEVELOPMENT
Developed at FRINGE LAB with the support of Tiger Dublin Fringe.
The production drew on queer performance, Irish television, spoken word, republican imagery and contemporary activism. McKenna cited influences including Prime Time Investigates, Reeling in the Years, Paris Is Burning and Mary Robinson’s Mná na hÉireann Speech.