Dennis Kelly

Dennis Kelly was born in Barnet, North London, in 1970, into an Irish Catholic family with five children. His father was a bus driver. At the age of sixteen, he left school and began working in a supermarket. His first encounter with theater occurred several years later when he joined a local drama group at the Barnet Drama Centre. He began studying theater in his late twenties and graduated with honors from Goldsmiths College. He wrote his first play, "Brendan's Visit," in 1997. This was followed by "Debris," 2003, "After the End," 2005, "Osama the Hero," 2005 (Meyer-Whitworth Award), "Love and Money," 2006, "Taking Care of Baby," 2007 (John Whiting Award), "DNA," 2007 (for the National Theatre's Connections Festival), "Orphans," 2009 (participation in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival, 2009, Fringe First and Herald Angel awards), "Our Teacher's a Troll," 2009, "The Gods Weep," 2010, and "Matilda the Musical," 2010. His works have been staged in Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, the USA, Australia, Japan, Canada, and many other countries, including our own (such as "Orphans," directed by Vangelis Theodoropoulos, "DNA," directed by Sofia Vgenopoulou, "Osama the Hero," directed by Peris Michailidis, and "Debris," directed by Yannis Moschos). In 2009, he was named Best Foreign Playwright by the prestigious German magazine "Theater Heute." He has translated Peter Karpati's play "The Fourth Gate" into English and co-wrote the script for the BBC television series "Pulling" with actress Sharon Horgan.