Playwright and screenwriter Dennis Kelly was born in London in 1970 and studied drama and theater at Goldsmiths, London. His play "Debris" premiered in London in April 2003. Just a year later, the play's international premiere took place at the Burgtheater in Vienna. This was followed by the drama "After the End" (2005) and "Osama the Hero" (2006), for which he received the Meyer-Whitworth Award. Both plays premiered at the Deutsches Theater in Berlin. The play "Orphans" from 2009 had its premiere at the Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh and won the Fringe First and Herald Angels Awards.

Although often performed and staged in European theaters, the production of Dennis Kelly's play "Orphans" at the Croatian National Theatre in Split, directed by Ivan Plazibat, marked the first performance of his work in Croatia.