“James Clements  is an artist of many talents, fearlessly tackling… issues through art” - BROADWAYWORLD

James Clements is a Scottish actor, writer, theatremaker and media professional based between New York and the UK. His practice merges source-based research, verbatim interviews and documentary filmmaking with experimental theatre techniques. His work combines voice, movement, multimedia elements and text to create socio-cultural dialogues on stage and between creatives.

In addition to numerous film and television roles in the UK (including work for the BBC, Channel 4 and an national advertising campaign), Clements has performed at New York venues including La Mama E.T.C., HERE Arts Centre and MITU580. His acting has been described as “impressive…incredibly compelling…[and] excellent,” (BroadwayWorld), “Clements’ portrayal…shines brightest” (BlogCritics) and “the strongest of the cast” (My Entertainment World).

As a creative, Clements has worked with a diverse range of artists, including Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Kate Whoriskey and the Talking Band. Clements has been on the artistic team for projects at Lincoln Centre LCT3, the Public, the 92nd Street Y and Live Nation, amongst others, and his original plays have been performed in cities across the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom. His plays, including "Dogs of DC" (2014), "Constructing Freedom" (2015), "The Diana Tapes" (2016), “Four Sisters" (2017), “Beauty Freak” (2018), “MEDEA/BRITNEY” (2019) and “Typhoid Mary (2020) have been described by critics as "magnifying" (TimeOut), "intricate" (BroadwayWorld), "compelling" (The Guardian), "affecting" (Playbill) and “intellectual” (Theatre is Easy).

Clements also co-wrote and directed the social justice theatre piece, “GUAC: My Son, My Hero,” with Manuel Oliver, whose son was murdered in the Parkland shooting. The play toured major venues across the United States through 2019-2020, produced by Change the Ref in association with Live Nation, with the goal of directly affecting change in the gun laws of the nation. Most recently, Clements co-created and starred in “Ellis Island,” a theatrical film commissioned by Rattlestick Playwrights Theatre for the 2021 Global Forms Theatre Festival, and “Brothers in Arms,” a workshop production created with John Gutierrez for La Mama E.T.C.

He is the Producing Co-Artistic Director of What Will the Neighbors Say?, a theatre company with a mission to provoke questions through untold stories, which he co-founded in 2016. The company has become a mainstay of the Brooklyn and Downtown scenes. WWTNS? has premiered 9 original plays totaling over 150 performances in 5 cities in 4 countries on 2 continents, and co-presented a further 19 pieces. The company has received support from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Off-Broadway Angels, the Indie Theatre Fund, the Rhode Island Foundation, the Brooklyn Arts Council and A.R.T./New York, amongst others. The company are Artists-in-Residence at CUNY Queens College in New York.

Clements’ work has been featured in a number of outlets including The Evening Times, Harper’s Bazaar, International Business Times, Playbill, the Daily Mail, STV, BBC Radio, the Guardian, TimeOut and on the front page of The Miami Herald.

Clements is an Affiliated Instructor for Drama at his alma mater, NYU Tisch School of the Arts, and is also a member of the Adjunct Faculty of CUNY Queen’s Drama Department and the Wuhan Institute of Design and Sciences. He has undertaken guest lectures for the NYU Liberal Studies Program, Ohio State University and at Fordham University in the Production and Design Department. In 2015, Clements received a grant from Donn Russell of the Peg Sandvoort Foundation for the development of new work, and in 2021 he was recognized with a City Artist Corps Grant from the DCLA and NYFA.

He currently freelances in television as a development producer. He has worked in development for international media companies such as Red Arrow and Cineflix Media, and is currently writing and co-creating an original drama series for UK television.