James Graham

Graham's first professional play, Albert's Boy, was produced by the Finborough Theatre in west London, where Graham became playwright-in-residence. His first major play This House was commissioned by the Royal National Theatre, where it was critically and commercially acclaimed, transferred to the larger Olivier Theatre, and was nominated for the Olivier 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.

Graham's debut feature film X+Y premiered in 2015. He has written numerous TV dramas, including the TV films Coalition (which won the Royal Television Society award for Best Single Film) and Brexit: The Uncivil War (nominated for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Television Movie). In 2019, Graham wrote and executive produced a three-part TV adaptation of his stage play Quiz, which aired in 2020.
In 2022, it was announced that Graham had written the book for a new musical about the life of televangelist Tammy Faye Messner, with Elton John and Jake Shears writing the music. Tammy Faye opened at the Almeida Theatre in October 2022, and was nominated for four Olivier Awards, winning two. Tammy Faye transferred to Broadway in October 2024 and closed two months later.
He has received five Broadway productions. He wrote the books for Broadway musical Finding Neverland, and for the musical Tammy Faye which transferred to Broadway from London. His play Punch opened on Broadway in September 2025, following Broadway transfers of his plays Privacy and Ink (for which he received his first Tony Award nomination)..
In 2023, he wrote Dear England for the National Theatre, starring Joseph Fiennes, a portrait of England footballer and team manager Gareth Southgate. 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.
James Graham gave the James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at the 2024 Edinburgh 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. 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.
In 2025, his play Make It Happen was performed at the Dundee Rep Theatre and the Edinburgh International Festival, starring Sandy Grierson as Fred Goodwin, former CEO of the Royal Bank of Scotland, and Brian Cox as Adam Smith. Also in 2025, his play Punch was produced by the Manhattan Theatre Club and performed at Broadway’s Samuel J. Friedman Theatre.