08-08-2025
- Entertainment
- Irish Independent
Kilkenny Arts Festival: A raw and fascinating portrayal of an actor facing his stage-fright demons
'What Are You Afraid Of?' starring Peter Hanly explains the talented actor's disappearance from the stage more than a decade ago
Busy actors often disappear from the Irish stage; it transpires later they have been plying their trade in the West End or in other exotic locales. So when actor Peter Hanly disappeared over a decade ago, he might have been expected to turn up eventually, having cracked Hollywood or Berlin. And now he has turned up, but with a different kind of story.
Rough Magic and Kilkenny Arts Festival present this intriguing documentary theatre piece, written and performed by Hanly, that deals with his experience of debilitating stage fright. In 2011, during a preview of the production of Molly Sweeney by Brian Friel at the Gate Theatre, he suddenly lost his confidence in his ability to remember lines, and being on stage became terrifying. A 30-year career stuttered to a halt.
