From a working-class, Northern Protestant background, Gary Mitchell came to notice in the Republic in 1997 with Connall Morrison's production of his In A Little World of Our Own at the Peacock.
Its gripping and unflinching portrayal of loyalist culture won it an Irish Times Theatre Award for best new play, and it later went to Belfast as part of an Abbey tour. The following year the Peacock produced As The Beast Sleeps.
He has said it was difficult to have his plays produced in Belfast, and his works have also premiered at London's Royal Court.
He won the prestigious Stewart Parker Award for Independent Voice; other accolades include the George Devine Award and the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright.