His play DNA, published in 2007 and first performed in 2008, became a core set-text for GCSE in 2010[1] and has been studied by approximately 400,000 students each year.
[10] While working in supermarkets, he discovered theatre when he joined a local youth group, the Barnet Drama Centre.
[11] At the age of 30, he graduated from Goldsmiths College, University of London with First Class Honours in Drama and Theatre Arts.
Shcherban had fled from Belarus to London, with other members of the theatre company, to escape political censorship and persecution in the aftermath of the 2010 Belarusian presidential election when oppositional candidates had been arrested.
They had both initially met in the early 1990s at LOST youth theatre where they performed in a production of Anton Chekov's The Seagull.
It was produced by Paines Plough in his first out of London production at the Traverse, though it later came to the Bush Theatre before going on a tour of the UK and internationally in 2006.
It received good ratings for the channel and was well reviewed, being nominated for a BAFTA TV Award for Best Situation Comedy in 2007.
[20] In 2010, Kelly returned to the Hampstead Theatre once more for his response to Shakespeare's King Lear, The Gods Weep starring Jeremy Irons, with mixed reviews.
[citation needed] His script adapted from Roald Dahl's book for Tim Minchin's production of the musical Matilda[21] proved highly successful, with the musical winning 99 awards between its opening in December 2010[22] and 2021, and scheduled to continue to run in the West End of London until at least December 2022.
[23] He wrote an adaptation of Pinocchio featuring the songs and score from the Walt Disney film for the National Theatre, opening in December 2017.
[citation needed] Kelly's one-woman play Girls & Boys had its world premiere at the Royal Court Theatre in February 2018, directed by Lyndsey Turner and starring Carey Mulligan.
[33] In the Netherlands, the play was staged by Theater Oostpool, directed by Daria Bukvić and starring Hadewych Minis, who won the prestigious Theo d'Or prize for her solo performance.
[34] His work has been produced in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Slovakia, the Netherlands, Ireland, Iceland, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria, Poland, Italy, Australia, Japan, the United States, France, Belgium, Denmark, Romania and Canada.