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Nick Hern Books

Drama Classics series

The world's great plays at a great little price

Each pocket-sized volume contains:

  • a full introduction
  • an author biography
  • notes on historical and theatrical context
  • a plot synopsis
  • key dates
  • a further reading list
  • a glossary of unusual words and phrases (English-language texts)

The texts are presented uncut (with the exception of Faust, which is adapted for staging in a single evening) and uncluttered with footnotes; the translations are accurate and actable.

See also Drama Classic Collections.

Showing 37-54 of 94 items.
An Ideal Husband

An Ideal Husband

By Oscar Wilde

The Rolls-Royce of English comedies, exploring corruption and morality, and bringing an act of political sin into the heart of the English home.

The Importance of Being Earnest

The Importance of Being Earnest

By Oscar Wilde

Oscar Wilde's undying comedy – in an edition to fit any handbag.

  • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
An Italian Straw Hat

An Italian Straw Hat

By Eugène Labiche Translated by Kenneth McLeish

A classic 19th-century French farce, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

  • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£4.99 £3.99
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Ivanov

Ivanov

By Anton Chekhov Translated by Stephen Mulrine

Chekhov's compelling early play, set in a country weighed down by political, ideological and spiritual stagnation. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

The Jew of Malta

The Jew of Malta

By Christopher Marlowe

Christopher Marlowe's drama of religious conflict, intrigue, and revenge, set on the island of Malta. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

King Ubu

King Ubu

By Alfred Jarry

Alfred Jarry's surreal and hilarious satire of power, greed, and bourgeois pretension, the first of his three plays about the comically grotesque character of Pa Ubu.

Published in volume Ubu
    The Knight of the Burning Pestle

    The Knight of the Burning Pestle

    By Francis Beaumont

    A classic satire on chivalric romances. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    La Ronde

    La Ronde

    By Arthur Schnitzler Translated by Stephen Unwin and Peter Zombory-Moldovan

    Schnitzler's famous 'daisy-chain' play of sexual coupling, set in Vienna in the 1890s. In the Drama Classics series.

    The Lady From the Sea

    The Lady From the Sea

    By Henrik Ibsen Translated by Kenneth McLeish

    One of Ibsen's most powerful studies of female psychology, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    Lady Windermere's Fan

    Lady Windermere's Fan

    By Oscar Wilde

    A biting satire on the morals of Victorian society, in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
    The Learned Ladies

    The Learned Ladies

    By Molière Translated by A.R. Waller

    Molière's satire of intellectual snobbery, in a translation first performed by the Royal Shakespeare Company. Published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£4.50 £3.60
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
    Life is a Dream

    Life is a Dream

    By Pedro Calderón Translated by John Clifford

    A masterpiece of the Spanish Golden Age, in an English version by John Clifford.

    London Assurance

    London Assurance

    By Dion Boucicault

    A classic comedy of manners with two of the great comic roles of the English stage, published in the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    Lysistrata

    Lysistrata

    By Aristophanes Translated by Patric Dickinson

    The ancient Greek comedy in which the women of Greece go on a sex strike to force their husbands to end the Peloponnesian Wars. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£3.99 £3.19
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
    The Man of Mode

    The Man of Mode

    By George Etherege

    The best comedy of manners written in England before Congreve. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    The Marriage of Figaro

    The Marriage of Figaro

    By Pierre Beaumarchais Translated by Stephen Mulrine

    A classic five-act French comedy by Beaumarchais, the source for Mozart's famous opera of the same name. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
    The Master Builder

    The Master Builder

    By Henrik Ibsen Translated by Kenneth McLeish

    Ibsen's study of the corrosive effects of a guilty conscience. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
    Medea

    Medea

    By Euripides Translated by Kenneth McLeish and Frederic Raphael

    The powerful myth of Medea, who murders her children as revenge for her husband's infidelity. In the Nick Hern Books Drama Classics series.

    • Paperback£4.99 £3.99
      There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
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