Created in collaboration between Nick Hern Books and fellow drama publishers Bloomsbury, Faber and Concord Theatricals, the (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play Lists highlight fantastic plays by writers of colour, selected by a panel of expert advisors, which are great for 11-18 year-olds (and beyond) to read, study and perform.
The Play Lists aim to support schools to create more representative and inclusive drama experiences within the English and Drama curricula. They form part of the wider Lit in Colour campaign founded in 2020 by Penguin and The Runnymede Trust.
Click on the images below to read the 2024 and 2023 Play Lists – plus, scroll further down to find a gallery featuring all of the NHB-published titles included across the Lists to date.
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A play from Palestine, part of the Royal Court Theatre's Arab World initiative in conjunction with the British Council.
Acceptance
Crackling with razor-sharp dialogue, Amy Ng's play asks whether we can ever escape our past, and investigates the destructive side of our search for acceptance.
Amsterdam
By Maya Arad Yasur Translated by Eran EdryA strikingly original, audacious thriller from a prize-winning Israeli writer.
Blue Mist
A debut play about South Asian Muslim men navigating a system that isn't built for them. Premiered at the Royal Court Theatre, London.
Blues for an Alabama Sky
By Pearl CleageA remarkable dramatic portrait of life in New York City in 1930, as the Harlem Renaissance starts to feel the bite of the Great Depression.
Crumbs from the Table of Joy
By Lynn NottageAn arresting, thought-provoking play about racial and social issues of the late 1950s, by the first woman to win two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama.
Double Feature: Two
By Prasanna Puwanarajah and Tom BasdenDouble Feature brings together – in two volumes of paired short plays – four of the most exciting new voices in UK theatre, in their first commissions for the National Theatre.
Dreaming and Drowning
By Kwame OwusuAn intimate and visceral play that dives into the mind of a young Black queer man wrestling with anxiety. Premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in 2023.
ear for eye
Snapshots of lives, snapshots of experiences of protest; violence vs non-violence, direct action vs demonstrations, ear for eye follows characters navigating their way through society today.
The Father and the Assassin
A gripping play about the man who murdered Mahatma Gandhi, premiered at the National Theatre, London.
Father Comes Home from the Wars (Parts 1, 2 & 3)
An epic dramatic trilogy set during the American Civil War, by one of America's leading playwrights.
Favour
A touching and hopeful family drama about a working-class Muslim family, tackling duty, addiction and the challenge of pulling yourself back together after it all falls apart.
The Funeral Director
By Iman QureshiAn incisive and heartfelt play about sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. Winner of the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize.
The Gift
By Janice OkohAn outrageous play about imperialism, cross-racial adoption, cultural appropriation... and tea.
Habibti Driver
By Shamia Chalabi and Sarah HenleyA heartwarming and hilarious play exploring the clashes, compromises and comedy that come with living in a mixed-culture family in today's Britain.
Home
By Nadia FallA powerful, inventive play exploring the issue of homelessness amongst young people.
I Wanna Be Yours
By Zia AhmedA tender, funny, lyrical debut play about finding love and holding onto it with everything you've got, premiered by Paines Plough and Tamasha.
Jitney
A groundbreaking modern drama classic, exploring the fragile bond between eight men as they live, love and work in a racially segregated, post-Vietnam America.
Kabul Goes Pop: Music Television Afghanistan
A play inspired by the true story of Afghanistan's first youth music programme, exploring a world following the US invasion that is complex, contradictory and shocking – all to a soundtrack of early noughties' pop.
Leave Taking
Two generations. Three incredible women. An epic story of what we leave behind in order to find home.
The Long Song (stage version)
By Andrea Levy Adapted by Suhayla El-BushraThe story of a young slave girl who lives through the final turbulent days of slavery on a sugar plantation in 19th-century Jamaica. Adapted from Andrea Levy's award-winning novel.
The Meaning of Zong
By Giles TereraGiles Terera's powerful debut play about Olaudah Equiano and the historical movement to abolish slavery – a timely response to the social upheaval the world has witnessed in recent years.
The Mikvah Project
By Josh AzouzA playful and poignant play about two men who meet every Friday in a north-west London Mikvah, a traditional Jewish pool used for ritual cleansing.
Misty
By Arinzé KeneAn inventive blend of gig theatre, spoken word, live art and direct address, exploring the pulsating heart and underground soul of inner-city London.
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