The shortlisted nominees for the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2013 were announced today (8 November), with NHB plays and authors featured strongly across a wide range of categories.

Lucy Kirkwood's bold, epic thriller Chimerica is nominated for Best Play. A gripping political examination and engaging personal drama, Chimerica tells the story of an American photojournalist who witnessed the events of Tiananmen Square in 1989, and who twenty-three years later sets out to find the subject of his most famous photograph - the mysterious Tank Man.

First premiering at the Almeida Theatre in May 2013, in a co-production with touring company Headlong, Chimerica received rave reviews, including five-star write-ups from the Guardian, Telegraph, Evening Standard and Time Out, with the latter proclaiming it 'the play of the year'. It later transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End.

Elsewhere, two out of the three nominees for the Charles Wintour Award for Most Promising Playwright are published by NHB, with Rory Kinnear (The Herd) and Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag) both shortlisted.

A witty and heartfelt look at a family falling apart – and pulling together – when life doesn’t turn out quite the way they imagined, Rory Kinnear's debut play The Herd premiered at the Bush Theatre in October. Directed by Howard Davies, it was praised by numerous reviewers including the Independent, who called it 'witty, agonising and eye-opening... a weave of painful insights and playful humour'. Kinnear also receives a Best Actor nomination for his performance as Iago in the National Theatre's production of Othello.

Fleabag, the debut play by actress and DryWrite artistic director Phoebe Waller-Bridge, is an outrageously funny but poignant look at responsibility and sexuality in today's young people. The comic monologue premiered at this year's Edinburgh Fringe to critical acclaim, with the Scotsman declaring 'I've never seen a play quite like it'. It won a Fringe First new writing award, while Phoebe also picked up The Stage Award for Best Solo Performance. It then transferred to London's Soho Theatre in September.

In addition, a number of NHB plays and authors have been nominated in other categories. Once, the uplifting West End musical with a book by Enda Walsh, is nominated for Best Design (Bob Crowley). Richard Eyre (writer of Talking Theatre) is nominated for Best Director for his production of Ghosts at the Almeida Theatre. Eyre's version of Henrik Ibsen's classic family tragedy has also garnered nominations for Lesley Manville (Best Actress) and Tim Hatley and Peter Mumford (Best Design). Rufus Norris - recently announced as the next Artistic Director of the National Theatre - is nominated for Best Director for The Amen Corner. Norris' version of Sleeping Beauty is published by NHB.

The Evening Standard Theatre Awards are judged by a panel of theatre critics, led by the Standard's editor, Sarah Sands. The winners will be revealed at a ceremony at the Savoy Hotel on Sunday 17 November.