By the 2000s, he had become "one of the most talked about voices in European theatre ... whose political thrillers have arguably made him Northern Ireland's greatest playwright".
His first play was produced by Tinderbox but Mitchell's first major theatre success was the production (by Connall Morrison) of his In A Little World of Our Own at the Peacock, a gripping and unflinching portrayal of loyalist culture.
Force of Change won the Evening Standard Charles Wintour Award (£30,000) for Most Promising Playwright.
In November 2005, he was forced out of his home in the Belfast suburb of Rathcoole after it was attacked by loyalist paramilitaries.
[1][3] He and his family had to live in hiding somewhere in Northern Ireland which forced Mitchell to put his career on hold for five years.