James Sheldon

James Sheldon

“WHAT'S THE STORY?" is the thread that runs through the life and work of James Sheldon.

From his time as a newspaper and magazine reporter, when he sought to “get the scoop” and tell the story as it had just happened, to a long stint as a stock market investor, trying to predict the story of a company’s financial future, James has always been a storyteller.

Since 2007,...
“WHAT'S THE STORY?" is the thread that runs through the life and work of James Sheldon.

From his time as a newspaper and magazine reporter, when he sought to “get the scoop” and tell the story as it had just happened, to a long stint as a stock market investor, trying to predict the story of a company’s financial future, James has always been a storyteller.

Since 2007, as a playwright with six professional productions of his work, including two in London, he has been writing his own stories: plays that reveal the mythic in the mundane through characters strong enough to endure the moral challenges posed by their passions, their heroism and their betrayals.

His play "Shiverman"—produced at London’s Theatre 503 in 2012 under the direction of Tom Littler—received 4-star reviews from The Times of London among others and was nominated as Best New Play of the Year by the Off-West End Awards. His screenplay adaptation of "Shiverman" is currently under consideration by film companies in Australia and the UK.

His 2010 play, "A Model For Mankind," was produced at the Cock Tavern Theatre in London, directed by Blanche McIntyre, where it received strong reviews from The Guardian newspaper and elsewhere.

Two of his other plays were presented at the Copake Grange Theatre in the Hudson Valley, NY-- "3-Hole Punch" in 2009 and "The Bonus Room" in 2012— both under the direction of Broadway veteran Thomas Gruenewald.

His one-act, "Often As The Moon," was a finalist at the 2012 Tennessee Williams Literary Festival in New Orleans and was produced by the Pittsburgh New Works Festival later that year.

Two of his most recent plays have received staged readings at The Players Club in New York City: "Tommers" in 2014, directed by Joseph Discher, and "The Grand Adventure of Tom and John" in 2014, directed by Stephanie Cunningham.

James lives in New York City. Additional production information, reviews and press interviews are available at SheldonPlays.com.



Plays

  • Reparations
    A recently widowed white book editor invites a younger black writer to her apartment, only to find that a night of tenderness and passion turns into a brutal morning-after when he threatens to reveal a dark secret about unless she publishes his latest novel.

    Will the young writer succeed in his blackmail attempt and claim his reparations for a life of perceived racial injustice, or will she...
    A recently widowed white book editor invites a younger black writer to her apartment, only to find that a night of tenderness and passion turns into a brutal morning-after when he threatens to reveal a dark secret about unless she publishes his latest novel.

    Will the young writer succeed in his blackmail attempt and claim his reparations for a life of perceived racial injustice, or will she force his hand and come to terms with her own dark past?