James Graham OBEFRSL
Graham in 2019
Born	(1982-07-08)8 July 1982 (age 43) Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, England
Alma mater	Ashfield Comprehensive School University of Hull
Genre	Political drama, comedy
Notable awards	Laurence Olivier Award

James GrahamOBEFRSL (born 8 July 1982) is a British playwright and screenwriter. His work has been staged throughout theUK and internationally, at theatres including theBush,Soho Theatre,Clwyd Theatr Cymru,Royal Court Theatre, Liverpool and theNational Theatre.

James Graham grew up inKirkby-in-Ashfield, Nottinghamshire,^[1] and was educated atAshfield School, Kirkby-in-Ashfield and theUniversity of Hull, where he studied drama.

Graham's first professional play,Albert's Boy, was produced by theFinborough Theatre in west London, where Graham became playwright-in-residence. His first major playThis House was commissioned by theRoyal National Theatre, transferred to the larger Olivier Theatre, and was nominated for theOlivier Award for Best New Play.This House was revived in 2016 and ran for two years, first in the West End and then on a national tour.^{[citation needed]}

Graham's debut feature filmX+Y premiered in 2015. He has written numerous TV dramas, including the TV filmsCoalition (which won theRoyal Television Society award for Best Single Film) andBrexit: The Uncivil War (nominated for thePrimetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie). In 2019, Graham wrote and executive produced a three-partTV adaptation of his stage playQuiz, which aired in 2020.^[2]

In 2022, it was announced that Graham had written the book for a new musical about the life of televangelistTammy Faye Messner, withElton John andJake Shears writing the music.Tammy Faye opened at theAlmeida Theatre in October 2022, and was nominated for fourOlivier Awards, winning two.^[3]Tammy Faye transferred to Broadway in October 2024 and closed two months later.^[4]

He has received five Broadway productions. He wrote the books forBroadway musicalFinding Neverland, and for the musicalTammy Faye which transferred to Broadway from London. His playPunch opens on Broadway in September 2025, following Broadway transfers of his playsPrivacy andInk (for which he received his firstTony Award nomination).^{[citation needed]}.

In 2023, he wroteDear England for the National Theatre, starringJoseph Fiennes, a portrait of England footballer and team managerGareth Southgate.^[5]Dear England transferred to the West End, and in 2024, the BBC announced they had commissioned Graham to adapt the play into a TV drama series.^[6]

James Graham gave theJames MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the 2024Edinburgh TV Festival. He criticised the lack of opportunities for people from working class backgrounds in the British television industry, citing that only 8% of people in the industry are from a working class background.^[7] His lecture led to the development of the Class and Social Equality Working Group, consisting of TV professionals from across the industry that are dedicated to finding practical actions to redress the class balance in the TV industry.^[8]

In 2025, his playMake It Happen was performed at theDundee Rep Theatre^[9] and theEdinburgh International Festival,^[10] starringSandy Grierson asFred Goodwin, former CEO of theRoyal Bank of Scotland, andBrian Cox asAdam Smith.^[11] Also in 2025, his playPunch was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club and performed at Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.^[12]

His plays are published byMethuen.^[13]

Graham appeared with Jacob Dunne, the subject of the playPunch, as guests on theRest is Politics: Leading Podcast.^[14]

In March 2024, he was the guest on the long runningBBC Radio 4 seriesDesert Island Discs, hosted byLauren Laverne.^[15] During his appearance, Graham said he has had relationships with women and men, describing his relationship history as "varied and flexible", but refusing to define or place a label on his sexuality. He also explained his struggle ("until recently") with relationships and "the level of commitment, vulnerability and intimacy that a healthy one requires".

For his 2025 playPunch, theater critic Greg Evans writes that the play offers a "fine cast" and calls out Harrison's "tremendously affecting performance" but found the play too often felt "like a PSA for the restorative justice procedure."^[41]

In2018, Graham won his firstOlivier Award, forLabour of Love asBest New Comedy (his other playInk was nominated for anOlivier in the same year).^[42]

He won his second Olivier Award for Best New Play in2024, forDear England.^[43]

In June 2018, Graham was elected Fellow of theRoyal Society of Literature in its "40 Under 40" initiative.^[44]

In January 2019, Graham's life and work was the subject of an in-depthBBC One documentary as part of theImagine series.^[45]

In May 2019, his playThis House was voted Play of the Decade inBloomsbury Publishing's "60 Years of Modern Plays" public vote.^[46]

He was appointedOfficer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the2020 New Year Honours for services to drama and young people in British theatre.^[47]

In June 2024, theNew Statesman included Graham inThe Left Power List 2024, the magazine's "guide to the 50 most influential people in progressive politics".^[48]

• List of British playwrights since 1950

• James Graham atIMDb

• Alumni of the University of Hull
• British dramatists and playwrights
• British male dramatists and playwrights
• British male television writers
• English screenwriters
• English television writers
• Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature
• Living people
• Officers of the Order of the British Empire
• People from Mansfield
• 21st-century English dramatists and playwrights
• British LGBTQ dramatists and playwrights
• People from Kirkby-in-Ashfield
• 1982 births

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