The winners of the 2025 Offies (Off-West End Awards) were announced yesterday (17 March 2025) at a star-studded ceremony at Central Hall Westminster. And there were plenty of Nick Hern Books titles amongst them...

Benedict Lombe's intoxicating romance Shifters, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, before transferring to the West End, was one of the evening's big winners with awards in the Creation category (writer Benedict Lombe), the Performance category (actors Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole) and the Sound & Music category (composer XANA).

Manjeet Mann's Run, Rebel, a stage adaptation of her own graphic novel, staged in a touring production by Pilot Theatre, was awarded in the Production category.

David Edgar's Here in America, about a confrontation between two giants of the stage and screen, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, won in the Performance category (Faye Castelow for her performance as Molly Kazan). Edgar's play was premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.

Lanra Malaolu's play Now, I See, a powerful fusion of music, song and text which premiered at Stratford East, London, won in the Design category (lighting designer Ryan Day).

And Sonali Bhattacharyya's King Troll (The Fawn), a dystopian fable exploring the migrant experience that was premiered at New Diorama Theatre, London, was awarded in the Sound & Music category (composer XANA).

Congratulations to all our winners!

The nominations for the 2025 Olivier Awards were announced today (4 March 2025), with plenty of recognition for Nick Hern Books and our authors.

NHB publishes four out of the five plays nominated for Best New Play: Lindsey Ferrentino's death row drama The Fear of 13 (which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2024), Mark Rosenblatt's play about Roald Dahl, Giant (Royal Court Theatre, and coming to the West End in April), Benedict Lombe's powerful romance Shifters (Bush Theatre and West End), and Eline Arbo's adaptation of Annie Ernaux's The Years (Almeida Theatre, and currently at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End).

Nominated for Best Revival are Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (Old Vic, London) and Robert Icke's Oedipus (Wyndham's Theatre, West End). Robert Icke is himself nominated for Best Director for Oedipus, alongside Eline Arbo for The Years and Nicholas Hytner for Giant.

Amongst the nominations for Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre are Tatty Hennessy's adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (currently at Stratford East before touring to Leeds and Nottingham) and Lanre Malaolu's Now, I See, which premiered at Stratford East in 2024.

Hofesh Shechter is nominated for Best Theatre Choreographer for his work in Ella Hickson's adaptation of Oedipus, currently at the Old Vic in London.

Heather Agyepong is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Shifters, alongside Lesley Manville in Robert Icke's Oedipus, Rosie Sheehy in Machinal, and Indira Varma in Ella Hickson's Oedipus.

The nominations for Best Actor include Adrien Brody for The Fear of 13, John Lithgow for Giant, and Mark Strong for Robert Icke's Oedipus.

Romola Garai is nominated twice for Best Supporting Actress, for her performances in Giant and in The Years. Gina McKee is also nominated in this category for her performance alongside Garai in The Years, while Elliot Levey is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Giant.

Good luck to all nominees! The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 6 April at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

The winners of the 2025 WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced, with the Donmar Warehouse and West End production of Shakespeare classic psychological drama Macbeth taking home three prizes including Best Play Revival.

David Tennant also won Best Performer in a Play for his turn in the title role, coming out top from a shortlist which also included co-star Cush Jumbo.

The production also won Best Sound Design for Gareth Fry's bracingly fresh approach, which used binaural sound technology to place the audience inside the minds of the Macbeths. The NHB-published, official tie-in edition of Macbeth contains exclusive behind-the-scenes material exploring how this and other elements of the production were conceived and developed – including through a fascinating rehearsal diary, colour photos, and interviews with its leading cast and creative team.

We're excited to announce that we currently have an opportunity for a Publishing Intern to join Nick Hern Books for six months, starting in March 2025.

As our Publishing Intern, you'll have the opportunity to shadow and learn from members of the team in every department: editorial, production, sales, marketing, rights, finance and customer service.

Some of your tasks will include (but not be limited to) the following:

• Office duties – assisting with customer orders; processing invoices and payments; organising couriers; dealing with incoming and outgoing post; replenishing office supplies, etc.
• Editorial – reading and commenting on submissions; copyediting manuscripts.
• Production – proofreading and checking corrections; preparing files for print.
• Marketing – compiling and proofreading materials such as review quotes, metadata, digital assets, newsletters, etc.
• Sales – generating sales reports; attending events.

If you have demonstrable interest in theatre and a genuine passion for starting a career in theatre and/or publishing, then apply! This opportunity is open to Black, Asian and ethnically diverse candidates, and is part-funded by the Mo Siewcharran Memorial Fund which supports internships for young talent from ethnicities that are under-represented in the theatre, publishing and music industries.

Recruitment for this internship is being administered by Creative Access. See more and apply by 13 January 2025 via the Creative Access website.

The nominees for the 25th Annual WhatsOnStage Awards have been announced, with multiple NHB plays and authors featured across the shortlists.

A fantastic three NHB-published plays are up for the Best New Play award: Giant by Mark Rosenblatt, Princess Essex by Anne Odeke and Slave Play by Jeremy O. Harris. Both Giant and Princess Essex also have nods in performing categories, with Romola Garai up for Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role in Giant, and Anne Odeke – who, in addition to writing Princess Essex, also starred in the title role – shortlisted for Best Performer in a Play.

The most-nominated play at this year's awards is the Max Webster-directed revival of Shakespearean psychological drama Macbeth, which transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End following a hit run at the Donmar Warehouse. The production is up for six prizes: Best Play Revival, a Best Performer in a Play nod each for stars David Tennant and Cush Jumbo, and nominations for Best Sound Design (Gareth Fry), Best Musical Direction/Supervision (Alasdair Macrae), and Best Casting Direction (Anna Cooper).

Also up for Best Play Revival is Robert Icke's visionary new version of Sophocles classic Oedipus, which is currently playing at Wyndham's Theatre, London. This arresting new take, which transforms the epic tragedy into an essential and explosive political thriller, also earns Icke a nomination for Best Director.

Dear Evan Hansen, which is now on a national tour this Autumn following its first, multi-award-winning UK run in London's West End, is shortlisted for Best Musical Revival and Best Regional Production. This new production of the musical by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul was first seen at Nottingham Playhouse, and is now touring through to July 2025.

Elsewhere, there are two nominations for The Years, adapted for the stage by Eline Arbo and translated into English by Stephanie Bain from the novel by Nobel laureate Annie Ernaux. The production, which transfers to London's West End early next year, is shortlisted for Best Director (Eline Arbo) and Best Casting Direction (Amy Ball). And finally, NHB author Julie Hesmondhalgh is shortlisted for Best Supporting Performer in a Play for her role in Punch by James Graham, which transfers to the Young Vic Theatre, London, from March 2025. 

The WhatsOnStage Awards are the only major theatre awards nominated and voted for by the public. The winners will be announced at a live ceremony on 9 February – you can see the full lists of nominees and vote for the shows you'd like to win here.

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.

The 2024 Play List, which has just been released, features nineteen wonderful NHB-published plays by writers including Waleed Akhtar, Sonali Bhattacharyya, debbie tucker green, Sami Ibrahim, Benedict Lombe, Arinzé Kene and Lynn Nottage. You can read the full 2023 and 2024 lists here.

Matt Applewhite, Managing Director at Nick Hern Books, said:

'We have been delighted by the enthusiastic reception to the first (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play List – but not surprised. We knew there was a very real, very urgent need for more plays by more diverse writers to be more widely known, read, studied, performed and celebrated, and we have been actively working for some time to diversify and broaden our list of authors. The sense of the canon being disrupted and rewritten is exciting and long overdue. Thank you to everyone who has dived into the first list – we hope this second list offers you another springboard for rich discoveries.'

Everyone at Nick Hern Books was saddened to hear of the death of wonderful actor and NHB author Timothy West, who died on 12 November, aged 90. Our thoughts are with his friends and family.

Here, NHB's founder and Publisher Nick Hern offers a personal tribute to Tim and his books, which we are very proud to publish.

'Publishing, like most other activities, is subject to the laws of chance and unintended consequences. Which is how I came to publish Tim West’s first two books.

'I was about to re-publish a neglected classic, a book about comedic acting by Athene Seyler and to bring it out on her 100th birthday, for which she was still very much alive, but I needed a new foreword by someone already renowned for the comedy of her performances. Prunella Scales, it turned out, had known the book since childhood. Problem solved.

'Shortly afterwards, instead of the hoped-for book proposal from Pru, came a suggestion from her husband that the letters he had written home from a multitude of tours might make for amusing and instructive reading. They did, and I’m Here I Think, Where Are You? duly made its debut in 1994, Tim’s recording of it becoming a staple of BBC Sounds. It absolutely captures his slightly ironic – but also affectionate – view of his profession and his fellow actors.

'A few years later, he was ready to write a "proper" autobiography. A Moment Towards the End of the Play came out in 2001 and sold well especially on the back of personal appearances by Tim – he was much loved. As indeed was Pru Scales, largely thanks to her phenomenal ‘turn’ as Sybil Fawlty. So the idea of getting them to co-author a book on acting was a no-brainer, though coaxing it out of them was not so easy, involving as it did alternating paragraphs in which each of them disagreed with what the other had just written! The resulting book, So You Want To Be An Actor? (published in 2005), is still very much in print nearly twenty years later.

'Throughout this period Tim and I would meet regularly, if infrequently, for lunch, at which he would lament that he really wanted to write another "proper" book but was bereft of a subject. Neither of us was to know that the elevation of his hobby to a TV series would see the waterborne antics of him and Pru on the canals transform them both into National Treasures.

'Tim’s gain was my loss – no more books about theatre for me! – but of course I can’t begrudge him this phenomenal late flowering. It only went to show the rest of the country what a thoroughly nice chap he was. An unintended consequence, if ever there was one.'

We're excited to be partnering with Outside Edge Theatre Company – the UK’s leading charity dedicated to addiction recovery through theatre and drama – to present Script Club: a new playreading and events initiative to support the development of writers from underrepresented backgrounds.

Each Script Club event will focus on a specific play, with participants receiving free, digital access to the playtext provided by NHB, followed by an in-person Q&A session with the playwright at the Bush Theatre, London. Participants will be able to explore each play with its writer, learn about how it was conceived, written and developed, and gain valuable inspiration, insight, advice and support in their own journeys as writers.

The first Script Club takes place in December 2024 with Winsome Pinnock, focusing on her seminal play Leave Taking. Script Clubs in early 2025 will be held with Conor McPherson on his contemporary classic The Weir, and Waleed Akhtar on his Olivier Award-winning play The P Word.

It is presented in association with theatre companies Cardboard Citizens, Clean Break and Synergy Theatre Project – who, together with Outside Edge, work with people affected by addiction, homelessness and with experience of the criminal justice system. The events are open only to members of these four organisations, who have been contacted with information on how to sign up. Future Script Clubs and contributing playwrights will be announced at a later date.

Matt Applewhite, Managing Director of Nick Hern Books, said: ‘Outside Edge, Cardboard Citizens, Clean Break and Synergy do incredible, inspirational work, supporting some of London’s most vulnerable individuals. It’s a privilege to partner with them on this new initiative, bringing people together in an inclusive environment to share the power of a great play.’

Matt Steinberg (Artistic Director and CEO) and Naomi Hopkins (Participation and Operations Manager) of Outside Edge Theatre Company, said: ‘We’re excited to partner with Nick Hern Books to offer this extraordinary opportunity for our participants and the members of theatre companies with whom we have long-standing relationships. Script Club will provide the writers from our organisations with a safe and supportive community in which they can develop as playwrights, connect with their peers and learn from the best playwrights working across the nation’s stages. This partnership is a powerful example of how organisations can join together to support people from underrepresented backgrounds to access professional development opportunities with leading industry professionals.’

Waleed Akhtar, Oliver Award-winning playwright, who will participate in Script Club in 2025, said: ‘I jumped at the chance to be a part of this initiative. It’s what theatre should be about: reaching communities and people who have traditionally been ignored by the mainstream. It’s why I wrote The P Word – and continue to make work.’

For the first time ever, we'll be exhibiting at TheatreCraft – the UK’s largest free careers event for anyone aged 16-30 seeking offstage roles in theatre – which this year takes place on Monday 11 November in central London.

We'll have a stall at the Exhibitor Marketplace at the Royal Opera House, open 10am-4pm, where we'll be offering special event prices on an exciting range of skills and careers guides on different backstage disciplines, as well as dozens of great contemporary plays and musicals.

The day will also feature a selection of fantastic workshops at venues across the West End – and we're delighted to be sponsoring the Writing sessions at this year's event. The programme includes a 'Starting Out' workshop by NHB author Waleed Akhtar (writer of the Olivier Award-winning The P Word) on getting your ideas down on the page, as well as a quick-fire writing workshop, a session getting your work seen and produced, and a musicals masterclass from one of the creators of West End hit Operation Mincemeat.

Registration for TheatreCraft 2024 is now open – see more and book your free ticket via the event website.

Opened in September and created by theatre cooperative and arts education charity SCRUM Theatre, SCRUM Studios is an exciting new arts centre located in Hammersmith, West London (just twenty minutes' walk from the NHB office!).

The building – formerly an administrative and archive space for the local council, and then let as offices – had laid empty for years, but is now a thriving venue containing three rehearsal studios, a co-working space for writers, a designers' workroom, a photography studio, and more. A 250-seat theatre will also be opening at the venue in 2025.

We're excited to be partnering with SCRUM on a range of initiatives, including a playscript library of NHB texts, and an on-site bookshop offering a range of careers and skills guides across different creative disciplines, as well as a selection of our great contemporary plays.

SCRUM are also offering a series of pay-what-you-can workshops, with multiple NHB authors featured amongst their Winter season. These include:

• Alexander Technique: Taking Your Space, led by Penny O'Connor – Thursday 14 November
• The Physical Voice, led by Mel Churcher – Thursday 21 November
• Selling Your Show by Russell Lucas – Saturday 23 November
• Making Your Solo Show, led by Lisa Carroll & Milly Thomas – Wednesday 27 November, 6pm

Tickets for these workshops are available now, with more to be announced soon. To see everything SCRUM are doing – and how you can get involved – head to their website.