James Phillips is a British playwright and director. Educated at St Catherine's College, University of Oxford, Phillips's first play, The Rubenstein Kiss (2005), won both the John Whiting Award and the TMA Award for Best Play. He was also a recipient of the National Arts Endowment Award for his first professional production as a director, Observe the Sons of Ulster Marching Towards the Somme (Pleasance, London). He is a selector for the NSDF and wrote a new adaptation of The Wind in the Willows for the NSDF Ensemble, performed at Latitude Festival. Other plays include The Little Fir Tree (2004) and Hidden in the Sand (2013). The White Whale, a site-specific piece adaption of Moby Dick staged in Leeds Dock, played to huge audiences throughout its 2014 production by Slung Low.