Mial Pagan

Northern Ireland born playwright and novelist Mial Pagan read Drama and English Literature at Manchester University.

Under the pen-name Michael McDonnell, he writes the Dermot O’Hara Series of detective novels set in Southern Ireland and under his own name he wrote The Agency, a satire set in the world of media and advertising. His latest novel, The House of Ruined Souls, will be published in 2025.

Stage plays: Other People’s Lives (2010) Dancehall Sweethearts (2017) and National Trust (longlisted for 2022 Bruntwood Prize) were joint productions by the Company of Ten and Upstairs at the Gatehouse Theatre for the Camden Fringe Festival.  Bruntwood Prize judges hailed National Trust as: “Theatrically original and vibrant, this is a gripping play, hugely topical to today’s political systems and to contemporary issues. The drama blends capital P Politics with lower case personal politics with confidence and ease.”

Thin Places (2024) was produced by Fire Monkey Productions at Little Angel Theatre for the 2024 Camden Fringe. Islington Citizen theatre reviewer said about Thin Places, “One of the brightest stars in the firmament of the 2024 Camden Fringe.”

His audio play The Old Fighting Cocks, a joint production between the Abbey Theatre and Radio Verulam,  was first broadcast in April 2018. It is available at this link https://www.abbeytheatre.org.uk/podcast/the-old-fighting-cocks/ 

Mial Pagan’s latest play for stage, King of Happiness, is in development for performance in 2027.