5 minutes with The Weir's Orla Fitzgerald: 'I've had to work harder to prove myself'

I was quite shy as a child so my mum took me to Saturday morning drama classes in Cork. She thought it would be a good thing to send me along to. It was a place you could express yourself. I went to an all-girls Catholic school, and the classes were mixed with people from loads of different backgrounds. I loved everything about it.

I was going to train at Trinity College in Dublin, but Corcadorca theatre company were auditioning for Disco Pigs. I auditioned, got the part and decided to take it. I had plans to go back and train, but it turns out I just carried on acting. Something happened and we ended up going on a world tour. My only experience was drama classes on a Saturday morning and youth theatre two days a week, and we went to Edinburgh, Australia, Denmark… It was a real baptism of fire.

Because I hadn’t had any formal training, I always though "god, what do they know that I don’t?" I felt under pressure to justify myself in the rehearsal room. It made me a bit insecure now knowing what they know. But because I felt I had to prove myself, it meant I had to work harder.

The Weir is set in a pub in rural Ireland, and happens in real-time. My character Valerie has just moved to the area. I walk into a pub and there are four men there – I’m a stranger to them – and over the course of the night stories are told and things unfold (but I don’t want to give it all away). It’s a play about loneliness. Valerie is an urban person coming into a rural environment. It was written 20 years ago when Ireland was on a cusp of change. The art of storytelling is quite celebrated in this play.

Valerie is in quite a tough place so it’s a challenge to play her every night. It’s not a comedy. I feel privileged to play her because it’s an iconic role in Irish theatre. It’s definitely something I wanted to do in my career, but it’s hard. She’s in a tortured place, so you have to get into that headspace. It’s cathartic, I feel quite relieved every night.

I’d love to play Medea, or Hedda Gabler would be a good role too. I’m really excited to see Ruth Wilson [in Hedda Gabler]. Those characters are strong women, but they’re misunderstood, and that makes them a challenge to play.

The Weir runs at The Sherman Theatre until 22 October, then Tobacco Factory Theatres from 25 October to 5 November.