David Ireland (playwright)

Ireland was born in Sandy Row, Belfast, but grew up in Ballybeen, Dundonald, County Down. His father was a heavy drinker.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/culture/theatre-dance/article/david-ireland-interview-the-fifth-step-royal-lyceum-theatre-tcq8qtkn9|title=Playwright David Ireland: 'The violence and rage in me comes out when I write'|first=Will|last=Lloyd|date=30 August 2024|website=www.thetimes.com}}

Ireland attended Brooklands Primary School. He then attended the Royal Belfast Academical Institution,{{cite news |last1=McAdam |first1=Noel |title=Belfast playwright David Ireland on courting controversy with Ulster American |url=https://www.irishnews.com/arts/2019/04/11/news/belfast-playwright-david-ireland-on-courting-controversy-with-ulster-american-1592885/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=The Irish News |date=11 April 2019}} before receiving training at the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama.{{cite news |last1=McCormack |first1=Chris |title=David Ireland: 'I feel compelled to write about the Troubles' |url=https://www.thestage.co.uk/features/interviews/2016/david-ireland-i-feel-compelled-to-write-about-the-troubles/ |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=The Stage |date=7 April 2016}}

In 2009, Ireland's What The Animals Say was produced by Òran Mór in Glasgow.{{cite news |title=Theatre review: What The Animals Say |url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/theatre-review-what-the-animals-say-1-1039071 |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=The Scotsman |date=20 May 2009 }} In 2010, Everything Between Us, first produced by Solas Nua and Tinderbox Theatre Company, was performed in Belfast, Scotland, and Washington, D.C. It won the Stewart Parker Trust BBC Radio Drama Award,{{cite news |title=Stewart Parker Trust Awards |url=http://artscouncil-ni.org/news/stewart-parker-trust-awards |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=Arts Council of Northern Ireland |date=25 March 2011 }} and the Meyer-Whitworth Award for Best New Play.{{cite web |title=Everything Between Us – 2017 – Finborough Theatre |url=https://www.finboroughtheatre.co.uk/productions/2017/everything-between-us.php |website=finboroughtheatre.co.uk |accessdate=11 October 2018}}

In 2016, Ireland's Cyprus Avenue premiered at the Royal Court Theatre.{{cite web |title=Cyprus Avenue – Royal Court 2016 |url=https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/cyprus-avenue-2016/ |website=Royal Court |accessdate=11 October 2018}} It was awarded the 2017 Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play, and the 2017 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Drama. The play then transferred to The Public Theater, New York City,{{cite news |last1=Brantley |first1=Ben |title=Review: Stephen Rea Is One Really Mad Man in 'Cyprus Avenue' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/25/theater/cyprus-avenue-review-stephen-rea.html |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=The New York Times |date=25 June 2018 }} the Abbey Theatre, Dublin,{{cite news |last1=Crawley |first1=Peter |title=Cyprus Avenue review: Stephen Rea delivers a masterful performance |url=https://www.irishtimes.com/culture/stage/cyprus-avenue-review-stephen-rea-delivers-a-masterful-performance-1.2538443 |accessdate=11 October 2018 |newspaper=The Irish Times |date=17 February 2016}} and the Metropolitan Arts Centre, Belfast. It returned to the Royal Court in February 2019 for a four-week run,{{cite web |title=Cyprus Avenue – Royal Court 2019 |url=https://royalcourttheatre.com/whats-on/cyprus-avenue-2019/ |website=Royal Court |accessdate=11 October 2018}} and had its Australian debut in May 2019 at Sydney's Old Fitzroy Theatre.{{cite news |last1=Kale |first1=Neha |title='In my family there were a lot of angry men': The political is personal for David Ireland |url=https://www.smh.com.au/entertainment/theatre/in-my-family-there-were-a-lot-of-angry-men-the-political-is-personal-for-david-ireland-20190514-p51n1w.html |accessdate=8 June 2019 |work=Sydney Morning Herald |date=14 May 2019 }} The Abbey Theatre performance with Stephen Rea was ranked by The Guardian writers as the 27th best theatre show since 2000.{{Cite news|last1=Billington|first1=Michael|last2=Soloski|first2=Alexis|last3=Love|first3=Catherine|last4=Fisher|first4=Mark|last5=Wiegand|first5=Chris|date=2019-09-17|title=The 50 best theatre shows of the 21st century|language=en|newspaper=The Guardian|url=http://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/sep/17/the-50-best-theatre-shows-of-the-21st-century|access-date=2021-02-17}}

In 2018, Ireland's satirical dark comedy Ulster American was performed by Traverse Theatre as part of their Edinburgh Festival Fringe season.{{cite news |last1=Cooper |first1=Neil |title='You never hear an Irish American saying they're Protestant,' says playwright David Ireland |url=https://www.heraldscotland.com/arts_ents/16361663.you-never-hear-an-irish-american-saying-theyre-protestant-says-playwright-david-ireland/ |accessdate=11 October 2018 |work=The Herald|location=Glasgow |date=19 July 2018 }} It was awarded the Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award for that year.{{cite news |last1=McElroy |first1=Steven |title='Ulster American' Wins Edinburgh Theater Prize |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/24/theater/ulster-american-edinburgh-award.html |accessdate=9 June 2019 |work=The New York Times|date=24 August 2018}} In 2019, it was nominated for Best Female Performance, Best New Play, Best Production, and Best Male Performance at the Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland,{{cite web |title=2019 Shortlist – Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) |url=https://criticsawards.theatrescotland.com/2019-shortlist/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 }} winning the first three.{{cite web |title=2019 CATS winners announced – Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland (CATS) |url=https://criticsawards.theatrescotland.com/2019-cats-winners-announced/ |accessdate=9 June 2019 }} It had its London debut at Riverside Studios in 2023 in a production starring Woody Harrelson, Andy Serkis and Louisa Harland.{{cite news |title=Ulster American review – Woody Harrelson and Andy Serkis perfectly awful in anarchic comedy |newspaper=The Guardian |date=14 December 2023 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2023/dec/14/ulster-american-review-woody-harrelson-andy-serkis-riverside-studios-london |accessdate=14 February 2024 |last1=Akbar |first1=Arifa }}

Ireland had played the role of the character Claire’s father in 2018's Derry Girls.{{cite news |last1=Lawson |first1=Mark |title=David Ireland: 'I find it hard to end my plays without violence' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/stage/2019/feb/18/david-ireland-cyprus-avenue-violence |accessdate=8 June 2019 |work=The Guardian |date=18 February 2019}} He wrote the upcoming 2023 Sky Atlantic series The Lovers.{{Cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2022/06/sky-series-the-lovers-from-doctor-foster-producer-drama-republic-into-production-1235053241|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220628102144/https://deadline.com/2022/06/sky-series-the-lovers-from-doctor-foster-producer-drama-republic-into-production-1235053241/|url-status=dead|archive-date=28 June 2022|title=Sky Puts Darkly Comic Series 'The Lovers' From 'Doctor Foster' Producer Drama Republic Into Production |website=Deadline|date=June 28, 2023|access-date=February 20, 2023}}

Ireland met his wife Jennifer while he was acting in Glasgow, where they now live with their children Ada and Elijah.

• What The Animals Say (Òran Mór, Glasgow, 2009)
• Everything Between Us (Tinderbox Theatre Company, 2010)
• Summertime (Tinderbox Theatre Company, 2013)
• Can't Forget About You (Lyric Theatre, Belfast, 2013)
• Cyprus Avenue (Royal Court Theatre, 2016)
• The End of Hope (Soho Theatre, 2017)
• Ulster American (Traverse Theatre, 2018)
• Yes So I Said Yes (Finborough Theatre, 2021)

• 2017 Irish Times Theatre Award for Best New Play – Cyprus Avenue
• 2017 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for Drama – Cyprus Avenue
• 2018 Carol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Award – Ulster American
• 2019 Critics' Awards for Theatre in Scotland for Best Female Performance, Best New Play, and Best Production – Ulster American

• Shetland (2 episodes, 2014). As Finlay Caulfield - S2 Eps. 5 & 6
• Still Game (1 episode, 2016)
• Derry Girls (3 episodes, 2018-2022)

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Category:1976 births

Category:Living people

Category:Alumni of the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland

Category:Male dramatists and playwrights from Northern Ireland

Category:Writers from Belfast

Category:People educated at the Royal Belfast Academical Institution