Paul Mescal
Actor

He may no longer be a newbie, but we think it’s only right that we celebrate the wins of a man who first appeared in our Hot For 2020 list, Normal People star Paul Mescal. Except he’s about to become chiefly known as ‘star Paul Mescal’ now, due to his incredible array of projects and a best actor Oscar nomination.

After enjoying a wonderful year in 2022, receiving accolades galore for his beautiful performance in the father-daughter drama Aftersun, and with the fantasy drama Strangers and sci-fi thriller Foe already in pre-production, Mescal has landed two huge projects that will begin shooting this year.

Paul Mescal in 'Aftersun'.

First, he has joined the cast of Ridley Scott’s Gladiator 2, taking on the role of Lucius, the son of Lucilla and nephew of Commodus from the first movie. Mescal beat out Miles Teller, Richard Madden and new Golden Globe winner Austin Butler for the role. But the Irish actor has an even more long-term project in the works, as he has replaced Glee star Blake Jenner in Merrily We Roll Along, a new movie from Richard Linklater, which will be shot over an astonishing 20 years.

Based on the Stephen Sondheim musical, it follows Mescal’s character Franklin Shepard and his relationships with creative partner Charley (Ben Platt), and friend and theatre critic Mary (Beanie Feldstein), as their friendship disintegrates over the course of two decades.

Linklater is known for his long-running projects such as Boyhood and the Before Sunrise trilogy, and Merrily We Roll Along will be his most ambitious project to date. Stay tuned for our review in a 2043 issue of Hot Press.

Hugh Farrell
Theatre Artist 

Hugh Farrell.

With his company Listen & Breathe, Dublin-based Hugh Farrell creates original, interactive, mindfulness-based experiences, guiding audiences in headphones on awe-inspiring journeys through their own communities.

Their latest show Of A Mind returns to Dún Laoghaire this summer, after travelling to Oklahoma City last year.

Another interactive experience, Without Sin will also tour Ireland’s festivals this summer, before taking up a slot at the Edinburgh Fringe. Without Sin is a modern riff on the traditional confessional box, bringing two people at a time into heartfelt conversation with each other. In 2023 he’ll also be creating a new Listen and Breathe experience for the Glencree Centre for Peace and Reconciliation, and working with Dingle Hub to create a new interactive farm-to-fork dining experience.

He’s also working on an opera about Alan Turing and the birth of the computer using the latest AI. Elsewhere, Farrell is the digital producer for Ulysses 2.2, working with a huge variety of artists, including Anne Enright and Fintan O’Toole, to reimagine chapters of Joyce’s novel for the centenary of its publication in 2022.

Rosie Barrett
Director

Rosie Barrett.

Rosie Barrett is a freelance filmmaker and writer based in Ireland, working in commercials, music videos, documentary and film. Among the artists she has worked with are Jape, Gemma Dunleavy, Villagers and James Vincent McMorrow.

In 2021 Rosie was granted the Agility award from The Arts Council for a film project currently in development, and was also nominated at the Kinsale Shakes and Emerging Director Awards for her work with Villagers. Last year, Gemma Dunleavy and stylist Zoe Redmond created a jersey around her song and music video ‘Up Da Flats’, featuring tiny details such as the Spencer Dock bridge in the print, and the lyrics of ‘Up De Flats’ embedded in the inner seams.

After shooting Dunleavy’s video, Barrett also shot a fashion film for the release of the jerseys, which are on sale now. This year, she is directing an experimental short film inspired by the works of Irish poet Colm Keegan; directing her first short film Return, written by and starring Love/Hate actress Lynn Rafferty; working on her first self-written short; and writing a feature-length drama.

Barrett is also a participant in Screen Ireland and Blinder Film’s initiative X-Pollinator: Creator, set up to address the lack of gender diversity in the Irish screen industry, and to support female-identifying and non-binary directors.

Caitríona Daly
Playwright

Caitriona Daly.

Last year was incredible for playwright Caitríona Daly, and 2023 is set to be even bigger. Her play Duck Duck Goose was loosely inspired by the Belfast rape trial, and followed the story of Chris Quinn, a young man who, in an attempt to help his friend, becomes deeply embroiled in a rape allegation.

As the rules change, and confusion reigns supreme, Chris struggles between loyalty, love and doubt. Full of moral ambiguity and psychological complexity, this viscerally-charged play constantly challenged audience’s perception and ideas of consent, trust and trial by social media. In 2022, Daly also won the Irish Theatre Institute’s Phelim Donlon Bursary and the Writers Guild of Ireland Zebbie Award for Best Theatre Script for Duck Duck Goose.

In 2023, Duck Duck Goose is being developed into TV series that is destined to be a brilliant and complex show. Elsewhere, Daly is under commission with the Abbey Theatre; has recently started writing for a drama series on the BBC; and her short film, Hysterical, is in development with Alfonso Films. Finally, Daly is also working on a groundbreaking interactive screen project with Algorithm Productions called Landfall, an original feature that explores the most terrifying storm to ever hit the Atlantic coast of Ireland in 1839.

Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair
Writer/Director

Ríoghnach Ní Ghríoghair.

Success has been a long time coming to Rioghnach Ní Ghrioghair, who has spent years writing and directing original short films and creative projects. With a BA in Film and TV Production and a MA in Screenwriting from the National Film School, this multi-talented woman has a talent for creating eerie, atmospheric and arresting films.

Her credits include the acclaimed short films Neon (2017), Break Us (2019) and Do I Know You? (2020). She has also worked as a development executive for both Blinder Films and Samson Films, two of Ireland’s leading production companies. She is also the lead writer on TV show The Lido (2021) for RTÉ and NIS, in development with creator Nadia Forde and Reflektor Media.

She lives between Dublin and Berlin and runs her own outfit, Curveball Media. The winner of the 2022 Aer Lingus Discovery Award, Rioghnach’s new award-winning horror short, Don’t Go Where I Can’t Find You, was selected for SXSW 2022. It’s an original and unsettling effort about a haunted composer, who uses music to connect with the ghost of her dead lover, before her mind starts to spiral into chaos.

Tara O’Callaghan
Director

Tara O'Callaghan.

Phibsborough director Tara O’Callaghan is on the up, working with the rising production company Motherland and directing eye-catching documentaries like Call Me Mommy. Her work blends realism with dynamic visuals, and explores evocative subject matter.

Fascinated by the rise in young women using platforms like Only Fans and intrigued by the stories of women who start their online sex work career much older, O’Callaghan set out to explore this phenomenon. In Call Me Mommy, she provides a platform for sex worker Sinéad Connell to tell her own story, dismantling myths and damaging beliefs about not only sex workers, but single mothers and women over 40.

Call Me Mommy was the winner of best short documentary at the Galway Film Fleadh and ended the year as a selection for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival.

Felicia Olusanya
Performer & Poet

Felispeaks by Davey Sexton.

Felicia Olusanya, also known as FELISPEAKS, is a Nigerian-Irish poet, performer and playwright from Longford, currently based in Dublin. An associate artist with THISISPOPBABY, Olusanya has been nominated ‘Best Performer’ by Dublin Fringe Festival in September 2018, and went on to win ‘Best Performer’ in 2022 for their beautiful performance in the glorious, uplifting and energising sensation, WAKE.

As well as being a member of the Poetry Ireland Board of Directors appointed in June 2020, Felicia is a member of the Poetry Collective, WeAreGriot. Olusanya is also an Artist-in-Residence with Axis Ballymun and Visual Carlow, and their poetry is set to become beloved by an entire generation of Irish students.

Their poem ‘For Our Mothers’ is in the English Ordinary Level Leaving Cert Curriculum for examination year 2023 and 2025, as is their poem ‘Rainbow Blood’ for 2025. In 2022, Olusanya performed with Tolü Makay and the Music Generation Ireland choir and the RTÉ Concert Orchestra live from Lough Boora, hosted by RTÉ ONE for Culture Night.

In 2023, Olusanya will be continuing to perform and write poetry, and is releasing a single, ‘Tough Meat’, which combines poetry and music to create something truly magical.

XNTHONY
Artist & producer

Anthony Keigher, also known as XNTHONY, is an award-winning artist and producer, who creates explosive theatre cabaret and community experiences that queer societal norms and historical moments.

Xnthony is dedicated to building community support for artists in Ireland and the UK, hosting workshops such as Werk In Progress, where LGBTQ+ performers can develop new work; and the Legends and Legacies Ball, where London’s older LGBTQ+ performers can showcase their work.

Xnthony’s theatre work has included Douze, the award-winning pop-comedy show about Eurovision and Brexit; The Power Of Wow, which explored the pressures of heteronormativity; Confirmation, a coming-of age pop concert memoir, recounting growing up gay in rural Ireland; and 2022’s riotous Oliver Cromwell Is Really Very Sorry, a hilarious and transgressive exploration of England’s colonisation of Ireland.

Image by Luxxxer.

The showstopping blend of soon-to-be legendary pop anthems won Best Ensemble at the Dublin Fringe.

Read more Hot for 2023 features in the new issue.