Martin McDonagh

Born in London of Irish parents, Martin McDonagh used to spend his summer holidays in Galway where he became acquainted with the Hiberno-English dialect he later put to work in his plays. His works include two darkly humourous trilogies, The Galway Trilogy (The Beauty Queen of Leenane, A Skull in Connemara, The Lonesome West) and The Aran Islands Trilogy (The Cripple of Inishmaan, The Lieutenant of Inishmore, The Banshees of Inisheer), and the dark fantasy, The Pillowman, winner of the Laurence Olivier Award for Best new play in 2004. McDonagh's plays have been have been produced all over the world, including extensive runs on the West End and Broadway. The Beauty Queen of Leenane won four Tony Awards in 1998 and a short film he wrote and directed, Six Shooter, won an Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film. In 2008, McDonagh's full length feature film, In Bruges, starring Colin Farrell, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson, was the opening film at the Sundance Film Festival.