Red Dead Redemption star to tour Ireland with crime thriller play

The Western star will take the production to Irish theatres and pubs next month.

Best known for playing the cocky young outlaw Sean MacGuire in the hugely popular Western video game franchise Red Dead Redemption, Mellamphy has been starring in productions of the play by Irish writer Ronán Noone since its debut in the States in 2019.

The plot synopsis for The Smuggler reads:

"It’s 2025. Tim Finnegan (Mellamphy) is an Irish immigrant trying to make it as a writer on Amity, an affluent summer colony in Massachusetts, where tensions flare between the migrant and local communities after a fatal car crash.

"When he loses his job as a bartender and his two-year-old son Eddie falls ill, Tim gets drawn into the dark underbelly of the island."

Described as a 75-minute, one-man thriller told in rhymed verse, it is said that the play explores the lengths a person would go "to survive and to belong".

In 2023, The Smuggler had its Off-Broadway debut when the famed Irish Repertory Theatre hosted a production directed by two-time Tony winner Conor Bagley (The Inheritance, Once on This Island).

Now, Bagley and his star Mellamphy have teamed up to bring The Smuggler on a four-town run in Mellamphy's homeland, where it will be staged in theatres and pubs.

In a statement, the actor - who also recently worked on the Dakota Fanning-starring Irish horror The Watched - said of the play's Irish tour:

"It has been a dream of mine for a long time, to bring this play home to my family, friends and communities where I started out.

"This is a play about an Irish immigrant, facing the challenges of life in a different land. It resonates with so much of what we are talking about at this moment in time.

"To be able to perform this in my home is a very special opportunity”.

Bagley - who began his professional directing career at the Abbey Theatre in Dublin - adds: “Ronán’s language is ferocious, mischievous, and razor-sharp—and in Mick’s hands, it becomes a high-wire act.

"Directing this piece has been a reminder of just how thrilling and dangerous theatre can be when one actor holds an audience in the palm of his hand.

"At a time when questions of borders, identity, and belonging dominate global conversation, bringing The Smuggler to Ireland feels like a full-circle moment for a story that lives between two countries—not to mention a professional homecoming for me.”

The Smuggler's Irish tour will kick off at St. John’s Theatre, Listowel in Kerry on July 11.

This will then be followed by dates at The Cork Arts Theatre (July 16, 17, 18 and 19), The Harrison Hotel in Belfast (July 23, 24 and 25) and J.R. Mahon’s in Dublin (July 28, 29 and 30).