Hughes, Declan 1963-

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Hughes, Declan 1963-

PERSONAL:

Born 1963, in Dublin, Ireland.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Dublin, Ireland. Office—Rough Magic Theatre Company, 5/6 S. Great George's St., Dublin 2, Ireland.Agent—Curtis Brown Group Ltd., Haymarket House, 28/29 Haymarket, London SW1Y 4SP, England.

CAREER:

Playwright, director, and writer. Rough Magic Theatre Company, Dublin, Ireland, cofounder, 1984, artistic director, 1984-92, writer-in-residence, 1984-99. Director of plays, including directed the playsThe Emergency Session, The Caucasian Chalk Circle, Talbott's Box, The Silver Tassie, The Woman in White, and Bat the Father, Rabbit the Son.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Stewart Parker New Playwright Award (joint recipient), 1990, and BBC NI TV Drama Award, 1991, both for I Can't Get Started;Time Out award, 1992, for both Digging for Fire and Love and a Bottle.

WRITINGS:

I Can't Get Started (play), performed at Dublin Theatre Festival, 1990.

Digging for Fire: New Morning (play; first performed at Dublin Theatre Festival, 1991), Methuen Drama (London, England), 1994.

Love and a Bottle (play; based on the work ofGeorge Farquhar), 1992.

Plays, 1, Methuen Drama (London, England), 1998.

The Wrong Kind of Blood (mystery novel), William Morrow (New York, NY), 2006.

Also author of the plays Boomtown, Hallowe'en Night, New Morning, Shiver and Twenty Grand.

WORK IN PROGRESS:

The next "Ed Loy" mystery novel, for William Morrow.

SIDELIGHTS:

Irish playwright and director Declan Hughes founded the Rough Magic Theatre Company in 1984 with partner Lynne Parker. He went on to serve as artistic director for the group, as well as resident playwright, producing and directing a number of their productions, and becoming well known for his independent outlook. His plays have been performed all over Great Britain, Ireland, Europe, Canada, and the United States. His first effort for the stage, I Can't Get Started, won both the Stewart Parker Award, and the BBC NI TV Drama Award for 1991. Four of his plays have been collected in Plays, 1.

In addition to plays, Hughes writes mystery novels. His first mystery, The Wrong Kind of Blood, introduces P.I. Edward Loy, an Irishman who has been living in Los Angeles but is returning home to bury his mother. While dealing with his loss and attempting to reacclimate, Loy is called upon to help a friend whose husband is missing and finds himself involved in a murder investigation. A contributor for Kirkus Reviews remarked that "an overload of backstory burdens long stretches of dialogue in an otherwise promising debut," while David Wright, in a review for Booklist, felt that Hughes "vividly conveys the sights, sounds, and smells of the Dublin streets," advising that "he bears watching."