One of the most acclaimed European playwrights of the late 20th and early 21st century, Martin McDonagh was the author of several Tony-nominated plays, including "The Beauty Queen of Leenane" (1996) and "The Cripple of Inishmaan" (1996) before segueing into a successful second career as a film writer and director. McDonagh's plays, which bristled with nationalist anger and dark humor as they addressed the emotional and political state of Ireland, earned him the praise of critics and theatergoers alike on both sides of the Atlantic. Both were undoubtedly dismayed by his abandonment of theater for film in 2006, but his efforts in that field - the Oscar-winning short "Six Shooter" (2006) and the Oscar-nominated "In Bruges" (2008) - established him as one of the most talented voices in international film. As an author, he returned to the stage with "A Behanding in Spokane" in 2010, his first piece to be set in America. The Broadway production starred Christopher Walken, who worked for McDonagh again in "Seven Psychopaths" (2012), a bloody black comedy co-starring Colin Farrell, Sam Rockwell and Woody Harrelson. A truly unique voice in both film and theater, McDonagh continued to build his impressive body of work with projects that deftly displayed his humor and ink-black view of humanity.