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Martin McDonagh's Meteoric Rise

In the world of professional theatre and film making, "overnight success" is a term used incautiously by journalists--more often than not, for people who have toiled for years in the field before finally "making it." In the case of thirty-year-old playwright Martin McDonagh, it's just plain true--four major theatrical successes in the past several years from a high school dropout who admits to limited experience in the theatre.

The Irish storytelling tradition runs deep in McDonagh, but the Irish language patterns and characterizations that are so central to his work had to be reclaimed through exploration of his extended family and his heritage. Martin McDonagh, born of Irish parents, actually grew up in Camberwell, a district in south London. (McDonagh's chief exposure to his Irish background was summer holidays spent in Galway.) His father worked in construction and his mother worked as a part-time housekeeper in London until they decided to take up semi-retirement in their native Ireland, which they had left before their youngest son Martin was born. The McDonagh sons, John and Martin, reside in London.

Martin left his formal education behind at the age of 16, and found himself enthralled by the world of television and film. Influenced by screen giants such as Orson Welles, Martin Scorsese, Terence Malick and David Lynch, he began submitting television and radio scripts, most of which were rejected until he managed to get two radio plays produced in Australia. Although he claims to be more influenced by film than modern theatre, McDonagh confesses to a fascination with the writing of American David Mamet, citing American Buffalo as his favorite play. Among British writers he credits Harold Pinter as a major influence.

Taking up the mantle of "Irish writer" is a heavy burden--to walk in the footsteps of William Butler Yeats, James Joyce, John Millington Synge, Sean O'Casey and Samuel Beckett. Yet McDonagh has managed to earn multiple awards for his plays during his short tenure in the theatre. In 1996 he won the George Divine Award for Most Promising Playwright and the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Newcomer to the British Stage. The Beauty Queen of Lenane, originally staged at the Druid Theater in Galway, then at the Royal Court in London's West End, won the 1996 Writer's Guild Award for Best Fringe Play. After its successful transfer in February of 1998 to the Atlantic Theatre Company in New York, The Beauty Queen of Lenane then moved to Broadway, where it garnered three Tony Awards and was also nominated for Best Play.

The Royal National Theatre in London, which offered McDonagh the position of resident playwright, first produced The Cripple of Inishmaan. Written before Beauty Queen, The Cripple of Inishmaan successfully moved to New York, where it opened at the Public Theatre in April of 1998 and immediately sold out its run.

Two more plays in the Leenane trilogy, A Skull in Connemara and The Lonesome West, were produced by the Royal Court in London. With their arrival, McDonagh became the first playwright since William Shakespeare to have four plays produced professionally in London during a single season.

His plays have been translated into 21 languages around the world. Robert Brustein, Artistic Director of American Repertory Theatre, refers to McDonagh as "the first great dramatist of the twenty-first century." We're pleased to present his work to Waco.

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