Concord Theatricals today announces that it has secured exclusive worldwide English language stage licensing rights to seven James Graham plays for its Samuel French imprint with titles including A History of Falling Things, Ink, Labour of Love, The Man, Quiz, This House and The Whisky Taster. For more information, visit concordsho.ws/PerformJamesGrahamUK .
James Graham said today “I’m honoured and delighted to announce that my plays have been acquired by Concord Theatricals for English-language licensing, I can’t wait to see how new interpretations of my work resonate with audiences worldwide and to be working with Concord who are such champions of new writing and are dedicated to reaching new audiences with innovative theatre.”
“James Graham is an extraordinary talent – a preeminent writer of his generation and ambassador of British theatre,” said Sean Patrick Flahaven, Chief Theatricals Executive of Concord. “We are thrilled that he has chosen us as his home for so many of his ground-breaking, intelligent, and entertaining works, and we look forward to bringing these titles, that explore and question the world around us, to audiences far and wide.”
In 2024 Concord Theatricals UK has released over 70 titles to the secondary licensing market, continued to support multiple major playwrighting competitions – including Women’s Prize for Playwriting, Theatre 503 International Award and The Untapped Awards – and announced a new multi-year partnership with the Royal Court. This partnership will create a new Unpublished Writer Award and establish a free library resource at the theatre. Plays released by Concord Theatricals in 2024 include Paula Vogel’s Mother Play, Amy Herzog’s adaptations of Ibsen’s A Doll’s House and An Enemy of the People, Andrew Davies’ Pride and Prejudice based on the iconic 1995 BBC adaptation, White Pearl by Anchuli Felicia King, Deborah Moggach’s The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel and a new version of Agatha Christie’s The Mirror Crack’d by Rachel Wagstaff. Concord Theatricals Recordings released the star-studded My Favorite Things: The Rodgers & Hammerstein 80th Anniversary Concert, Melissa Errico’s Sondheim in the City and the original cast recording of Stephen Sondheim’s final musical, Here We Are, which is to have its UK premiere at the National Theatre next year.
James Graham is a playwright and screenwriter. His recent work includes the play Dear England, commissioned by the National Theatre, about Gareth Southgate’s transformation of the England football team. After a sold out run at the National Theatre in 2023 the play transferred to the West End and has played to more than 200,000 people and returns to the stage in 2025. Graham is adapting the play for television with the BBC. Graham’s TV drama “Sherwood” – set in the Red Wall community of Ashfield where he is from – aired on BBC One in 2022 to five star reviews. It won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Drama and two BAFTAS. The second season aired on BBC One in August 2024, garnering critical acclaim.
Other television includes a recent collaboration with Adam Curtis and Michael Sheen on the BBC drama “The Way,” about a civil uprising in Port Talbot, Wales. “Quiz” (ITV and AMC) in 2020, directed by Stephen Frears, which was one of the most watched UK television dramas of the year. And “Brexit: An Uncivil War,” broadcast on Channel 4 and HBO. It starred Benedict Cumberbatch as Dominic Cummings and was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Television Movie and a BAFTA for Single Drama.
Graham’s breakout play This House – also at the National Theatre – opened in the smaller Cottesloe Theatre in September 2012 before transferring to the Olivier in 2013 where it enjoyed a sell-out run. It garnered a huge amount of interest and admiration from current and former MPs for his rendition of life in the House of Commons in the hung parliament of 1974. The play went on to have an Olivier-nominated sell-out revival in the West End in 2017.
Other theatre work includes Boys From the Blackstuff (Liverpool Royal Court, 2023, National Theatre, 2024 and UK tour in 2025) – adapted from Alan Bleasdale’s seminal television drama and Best of Enemies (Young Vic, 2021, Noel Coward Theatre, 2022) – about the political debates between Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr., winner of the Critics’ Circle Theatre Award.
Graham’s new musical, Tammy Faye, written with Elton John (original music) and Jake Shears (lyrics) opened at the Almeida in 2022 and will open at the Palace Theatre on Broadway in November 2025. His “searingly powerful” play Punch opened at the Nottingham Playhouse in May 2024 and is transferring to the Young Vic in March 2025. He received an OBE in 2020 for “services to drama and young people.”
Concord Theatricals is the world’s most significant theatrical company, comprising the catalogues of R&H Theatricals, Samuel French and Tams-Witmark, plus dozens of new signings each year. Our unparalleled roster includes the work of Irving Berlin, Agatha Christie, George & Ira Gershwin, Marvin Hamlisch, Lorraine Hansberry, Kander & Ebb, Tom Kitt, Ken Ludwig, Marlow & Moss, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anaïs Mitchell, Dominique Morisseau, Cole Porter, Rodgers & Hammerstein, Thornton Wilder and August Wilson. We are the only firm providing truly comprehensive services to the creators and producers of plays and musicals, including theatrical licensing, music publishing, script publishing, cast recording and first-class producing.
