David James has worked in and around the professional theatre in New York, Los Angeles and London for the whole of his adult life, as a writer, a designer, and, occasionally, a performer. He has been chair of the theatre committee for the Writers’ Guild of Great Britain for 10 years, as well as a member of MMD since 1994 and the Dramatists’ Guild. For seven years, he specialised in libretto as a member of the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop in New York. His plays have won several awards and have been produced by the BBC World Services, Radio Four, and the South African Broadcasting Company, and he is currently collaborating on two new musicals.

He is a member of the theatre designers' union in New York, United Scenic Artists local 829, and designed the costumers for over 30 productions there. As Assistant Designer, he worked on musicals including Promises Promises, the original production of Grease, 70 Girls 70, Bob Fosse’s Dancin’,The Rothschilds, Coco, George M, Minnie’s Boys, Halloween, Carnival (New York City Center revival) and Oklahoma (New York State Theatre revival). He was assistant director on the first New York revival of Company.

He has run writing labs and workshops at the Soho Theatre and for Chris Grady at Edinburgh, as well as ideation and brainstorming programmes for corporate clients. He taught at the Parsons School of Design in New York, and has been a judge for the Tony Awards, the London New Play Festival, The Writers’ Guild Awards, and the John Whiting Award.