Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonagh
Martin McDonaghis a playwright, screenwriter and film director, born and brought up in London with both British and Irish citizenship. He has been described as one of the most important living Irish playwrights...
NationalityBritish
ProfessionPlaywright
Date of Birth26 March 1970
art writing theatre
Theatre was an art form that I didn't really respect, and because I wanted to shake it up and do different things on stage, I was able to combine all the things I'd learnt through writing on my own.
queens thinking people
I think as a writer you never have to flee from fame because you're not that visible in the first place, but, after the Broadway success of 'Beauty Queen,' people were coming up to me all the time, and I wasn't really prepared for that level of attention.
writing thinking games
I think if you're writing a play, it should be its own end game; you'll never get to do a good one unless you know it's not a blueprint for a film; you're not going to get the action right and the story right.
theatre cinema empty
I seldom feel comfortable in a theatre. I always feel like I own a cinema. I feel equally happy in an empty one as a full one. Probably happier in an empty one!
attitude writing trying
Though it may not seem like it, I never try to write about a place, per se; it's always, first and last, about story. Story is everything. Story and a bit of attitude.
agents want given
I pick and choose what I want to do at any given time, and what not to do, importantly. My agents, I won't hear about any offers or options.
like-you preaching feels
It doesn't feel like you're preaching, if you can say something in a joke.
dynamics stuff never-quit
When you've got good actors, they're going to come up with good stuff, but you're never quite sure how the dynamics are going to work between them.
character writing knowing
When I'm happiest writing is just not knowing where it goes and just let the characters bring you there.
growing-up realizing grows
I realize that I am never going to grow up.
thinking stories world
It's the way that I think about the world, and the way that I like to tell stories - I don't think you should get too heavy. There's enough out there, in the world, with violence. I think that comedy lightens the heaviness [of the world].
smart directors film
I never feel like a smug or a smart-alec film director, and there are plenty of those around.
heart years waiting
An Irishman I am, begora! With a heart and a spirit on me not crushed be a hundred years of oppression. I'll be getting me shillelagh out next, wait'll you see.
art real drama
I suppose I walk that line between comedy and cruelty because I think one illuminates the other. We're all cruel, aren't we? We are all extreme in one way or another at times and that's what drama, since the Greeks, has dealt with. I hope the overall view isn't just that though, or I've failed in my writing. There have to be moments when you glimpse something decent, something life-affirming even in the most twisted character. That's where the real art lies.