Marina Carr was born in 1964 and grew up in Co Offaly. Her main theatrical works include LOW IN THE DARK (Project Arts Centre, Dublin, 1989); THE DEER’S SURRENDER (Dublin, Andrews Lane Theatre,1990); THIS LOVE THING (Dublin, Project Arts Centre, and Belfast, Old Museum Building, 1991); THE MAI (The Peacock, 1994); Portia Coughlan (The Peacock, 1996); ON RAFTERY’S HILL(Galway, The Druid Theatre Company, 1996); and ARIEL (The Abbey, 2002). Her awards include The Irish Times Best New Play Award, the Dublin Theatre Festival Best New Play Award 1994 for THE MAI, a McCauley Fellowship, a Hennessey Award, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, and an E.M. Forster Prize from the American Academy of Arts and Letters.