Michael John O'Neill

Michael is a Northern Irish playwright, dramaturg and theatre producer based in Glasgow. In 2019 Michael became the inaugural recipient of the Bruntwood Prize’s Original New Voice Award for his play AKEDAH. In 2020 his short monologue SORE AFRAID was produced as a digital project by the National Theatre of Scotland, the Citizens Theatre, and BBC Scotland, and his short audio play PART OF THAT WORLD was produced by Pitlochry Festival Theatre. He is developing new plays with the National Theatre of Scotland (as Writer on Attachment), Royal Exchange, Manchester (on an Original New Voice Attachment), and Playwrights’ Studio, Scotland (as winner of their New Playwrights’ Award). His most recent full length play, THIS IS PARADISE, was produced in a developmental showing at the Traverse Theatre at the Edinburgh Festival 2021, where it got 5* reviews (Scotsman) and won the Popcorn Writing Award.

His work as a theatre producer includes as Artistic Producer of the Tron Theatre (2014-2020), where he commissioned and produced such work as Isobel McArthur’s PRIDE AND PREJUDICE* (*sort of) which, after its life at the Tron, went on to have a large-scale UK tour 2019-2020 and transfers to the West End in 2021.