James Sweeney
British Playwright & Screenwriter
About James:
James Sweeney is a British playwright and screenwriter. His debut play, Make It Count, premiered to a sold-out audience in 2026 and has already attracted international interest, with selections for productions and readings across five countries: Germany, Hungary, Canada, the UK and Denmark. He is a New Perspectives New Associate for 2026/27.Make It Count is currently being translated into Polish and Czech, with performance rights represented by ADiT in Poland and DILIA in the Czech Republic. For all other script requests, production and performance rights enquiries, representation or other professional enquiries, please use the contact form at the foot of this website.James is also the writer of Life Debt, an award-winning feature screenplay, and is currently developing two new stage plays, The Last Next Time and The Imposition. He has also begun work on his fourth play, Thirty-Eight Times. His writing combines emotionally layered storytelling with dark humour.
Forthcoming Shows:
Make It Count - Staged Reading — Entity Theatre, Munich, Germany — 13 March 2027
Make It Count - 3 Performances — Nottingham Arts Theatre, Nottingham, UK — 10 June -12 June 2027
Reviews:
Review Culture on Make It Count"I cannot recommend this feelgood story enough."
Andy Evans
★★★★ - Theatre Village on Make It Count“What stood out was the strength of the script. The jokes land naturally and never feel forced. I enjoyed it immensely.”
Theatre Village
★★★★ - East Midlands Theatre on Make It Count“I would recommend attending future performances of this play, which it deserves beyond this limited run.”
Jayne Fletcher-Tomlinson
★★★★ - Lou Reviews on Make It Count“Funny, perceptive, and extremely well-written, with characters who really feel well drawn. "
"Make It Count is a clever play that deserves more exposure.”
Louise Penn
Selected Works:
STAGE PLAY - MAKE IT COUNT: 3-hander, 90 minutes. Could you survive reliving your marriage? When a man dies by mistake, he is given the chance to relive the last sixteen years of his marriage while his wife remembers none of it. Armed with knowledge of the future, he tries to perfect their life together, only to discover that every attempt to control it drives them further apart. Guided by the Grim Reaper’s well-meaning but inexperienced husband, he is forced to confront the damage he has done.
STAGE PLAY - THE IMPOSITION: 6-hander. A socially awkward funeral parlour worker is stunned to discover that a corpse is asking him to help solve his own murder. What begins as an absurd supernatural comedy develops into a murder mystery involving a grieving fiancée, her combative sister, a suspicious detective and secrets buried within the funeral parlour itself.
STAGE PLAY - THE LAST NEXT TIME: 4-hander. A man repeatedly relives the same twenty-year relationship in an attempt to save his dying wife, only to discover that he may be the person causing the harm.
STAGE PLAY - THIRTY-EIGHT TIMES: 4-hander. A professor and expert witness is held in a strange prison, accused of murdering his wife. He must compromise his beliefs in order to be freed. (work in progress)
FILM - LIFE DEBT: a traumatised ex-soldier coerced into causing a deadly coach crash joins forces with a compromised detective to expose the shadowy network controlling them both.
TV PILOT - KATE: haunted by her past in Moscow, an ex-spy is drawn into the world of a powerful British family and tasked with retrieving stolen diaries that could ignite a geopolitical crisis.
FILM - ONE MORE YEAR: 10 years after KATE the TV Pilot, the story picks up with Kate being sucked back into the world she has worked so hard to avoid when her daughter goes missing.
FILM - ARK: a man is sent back to 2001 with a divine mission: protect a brilliant young physicist and escort her to a godlike being on the Moon to prevent Earth’s collapse.
Recent Theatre News:
Make It Count — Three professional performances planned at Nottingham Arts Theatre, Nottingham, UK, from 10–12 June 2027.
Make It Count — Polish translation underway by Bogusława Plisz-Góral, with performance rights representation in Poland secured through ADiT. October 2026.
Make It Count — Czech translation underway by Klára Šabaková, with performance rights representation in the Czech Republic secured through DILIA. September 2026.
Make It Count — Staged reading confirmed with Entity Theatre, Munich, Germany, for 13 March 2027.
Make It Count — Six professional performances confirmed with Budapest English Theatre, Hungary, for February–March 2027.
Make It Count — Eight-performance run at Wiesbaden Performing Arts Center (WPAC), Germany, from 22 October–1 November 2026.
Make It Count — Reading at Copenhagen Theatre Circle, Denmark, on 14 October 2026.
Make It Count — Additional staged reading at Langham Court Theatre, Victoria, Canada, on 19 September 2026.
Make It Count — Staged reading at Langham Court Theatre, Victoria, Canada, on 12 September 2026.
Make It Count — Sold-out run of three performances at Louth Riverhead Theatre, UK, from 18–20 June 2026.
Make It Count — Professional staged reading at The Bridge House Theatre, London, UK, on 10 May 2026.
James Sweeney — Selected as a New Associate with New Perspectives for 2026/27. April 2026.
James Sweeney — Invited to serve on the judging panel for the Best Script Awards. March 2026.
Make It Count — Wins Best Stage Play at the international Best Script Awards. January 2026.
Make It Count — Wins Scratch Night at Louth Riverhead Theatre, UK. September 2025.
Recent Screenplay News:
Life Debt - Winner - Best Thriller at the New York Script Awards - 2025
Life Debt - Finalist - Best Feature at the Canada Independent Film Festival - 2026
Life Debt - Finalist - Oxford Script Awards - 2026
Life Debt - Finalist - Berlin International Screenwriting Festival - 2025
Life Debt - Finalist - London Best Script Award - 2025
Life Debt - Selected - Lift-Off Global Network at Pinewood Studios - The First-Time Screenwriter Showcase: Script & Screenplay Competition - 2025
One More Year - Finalist - Chicago Script Awards - 2025
One More Year - Finalist - New York Script Awards - 2025
Interviews:
East Midlands Theatre - Interview – Make It Count – May 26
Lincolnshire World - Director/Producer Interview – Make It Count – May 26
LouReviews - Interview – Make It Count – Apr 26
Beyond the Curtain - Interview – Make It Count – Mar 26
Previews:
Debra Hall Creative - Preview – Make It Count – May 26
Theatre Village - Preview – Make It Count – Apr 26
Hull Is This Article - Preview – Make It Count – Mar 26
Lincolnshire World - Preview – Make It Count – Mar 26
Contact James:
