Macmillan first rose to prominence through the Bruntwood Playwriting Competition at
Manchester's Royal Exchange Theatre, winning two awards in its inaugural year for his play
Monster, which was also nominated for a TMA Best New Play Award and a
Manchester Evening News Best New Play Award.
Major plays Many of Macmillan's major plays take as their central theme a contemporary socio-political issue:
Lungs explores parenthood,
People, Places and Things addiction and recovery, and
Every Brilliant Thing considers the issue of
suicidality.
Lungs His play
Lungs was first produced at the
Studio Theatre in Washington DC and has subsequently been performed around the world, receiving its German-language premiere as
Atmen at the
Schaubühne where it entered the repertory, directed by
Katie Mitchell.
Lungs has also premiered in South Africa as "Longe" in 2016 at the Vrystaat Kunstefees, winning the award for Best Upcoming Talent. The British production of the play, starring
Kate O'Flynn and Alistair Cope under the direction of
Richard Wilson won a Best New Play award at 2013's
Off West End Theatre Awards.
People, Places and Things Macmillan's play
People, Places and Things opened at the
National Theatre in a co-production with
Headlong Theatre Company in 2015 and was nominated for Best New Play at the
Olivier Awards. It transferred to the
Wyndham's Theatre in London's
West End in 2016 and will transfer to
St Ann's Warehouse in New York in 2017. It was directed by
Jeremy Herrin and starred
Denise Gough, who won the
Olivier Award for Best Actress for her performance in 2016. The play is a harrowing look at drug and alcohol addiction and recovery. Its writing was prompted by Macmillan's desire to write a leading part for an actress: he has said he "wrote this play believing very strongly that there were a lot of brilliant actresses who just weren't getting parts that would push them and that they could excel in." Gough's performance met with widespread critical acclaim.
Every Brilliant Thing Every Brilliant Thing was produced by
Paines Plough and
Pentabus, enjoyed sold-out runs at three consecutive
Edinburgh Festivals and continues to tour worldwide. During its 2014–2015 run at the
Barrow Street Theatre in New York, it was filmed for broadcast on
HBO (first aired in 2016). It is an interactive monologue, performed with audience participation. Its original performer was the comedian
Jonny Donahoe. The Barrow Street production was a
New York Times "Critic's Pick". A transfer of the West End production of
Every Brilliant Thing, featuring
Daniel Radcliffe, opened at Broadway's
Hudson Theatre in March 2026; Radcliffe was to perform for two months, followed by
Mariska Hargitay for another five weeks. Macmillan has described his reason for writing the play as a desire to communicate to people "You're not alone, you're not weird, you will get through it, and you've just got to hold on. That's a very uncool, unfashionable thing for someone to say, but I really mean it. I didn't see anyone discussing suicidal depression in a useful or interesting or accurate way."
Game of Thrones: The Mad King Game of Thrones: The Mad King will be presented by the
Royal Shakespeare Company and will premiere in summer 2026. It is a prequel written by Macmillan to
George R. R. Martin's epic fantasy novel series
A Song of Ice and Fire.
Collaboration with Katie Mitchell British director
Katie Mitchell has directed several of Macmillan's plays. Their collaborations include a play at the
Royal Court Theatre titled
2071, which Macmillan later co-authored as a book on climate science with Professor
Chris Rapley. Macmillan's play
The Forbidden Zone premiered at the
Salzburg Festival before entering the repertoire of the Schaubühne Berlin and transferring to London's
Barbican Theatre. Their collaborations have been invited to
Theatertreffen,
Festival D'Avignon and awarded the
Nestroy Theatre Prize. They also collaborated on the film
Unseen, produced by Warp and
Film 4. His collaboration with Mitchell led to his meeting Leo Warner, the video designer who directed Macmillan's adaptation of
City of Glass in 2017.
Purpose and characteristics Macmillan has said "Most of what I want to say isn’t particularly coherent; it’s about trying to find a form to articulate an anxiety or concern I have." "My plays all have some internal contradiction that I can’t resolve." == References ==