The winners of the 38th Olivier Awards were announced yesterday (13 April), with Nick Hern Books plays and authors landing no fewer than twelve prizes across a wide range of categories, including the trio of Best New Play, Best New Comedy and Best Revival.

Lucy Kirkwood's gripping thriller Chimerica was the most successful production on the night, winning a total of five awards: Best New Play, Best Director, Best Set Design, Best Lighting Design and Best Sound Design (both shared).

A gripping political examination and engaging personal drama about an American photojournalist searching for the subject of his most famous photograph - the mysterious Tiananmen Square Tank Man - Chimerica enjoyed a hit West End transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre last summer, following its initial sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre. It has also won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Play, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Last year, Lucy was also named as the UK recipient of the inaugural Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, a major new prize designed to build links between the UK and US new writing scenes.

NHB author Richard Eyre's production of Ghosts landed three prizes: Best Revival, Best Actress and Best Supporting Actor.

An intense, fast-paced version of Ibsen's classic tragedy both adapted and directed by Eyre, Ghosts opened at the Almeida Theatre in September 2013 to critical acclaim - with Time Out's Andrzej Lukowski declaring it 'the most lucid and affecting version of the play I have ever seen' - before transferring to Trafalgar Studios in December. A Broadway production is apparently in the works.

On the musicals front, Once, with music & lyrics by Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová and a book by NHB author Enda Walsh, bagged two prizes: Best Actress in a Musical and Outstanding Achievement in Music.

A charming and irresistible musical based on the Academy Award-winning film, Once tells the story of an Irish busker and a young Czech woman who meet on the streets of Dublin, and strike up an intense, blossoming friendship grounded in a shared love of songwriting. Originally seen on Broadway - where it won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book - Once opened at the Phoenix Theatre, West End, in 2013.

Best New Comedy was won by  Jeeves & Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense', the Goodale Brothers' play based on the works of P. G. Wodehouse.

An inventive, fast-paced comedy featuring Wodehouse’s iconic double act, the play opened at the Duke of York's Theatre, London following preview performances in Richmond and Brighton. It has recently extended booking until September.

Finally, NHB author Rory Kinnear scooped the Olivier Award for Best Actor for his performance as Iago in the National Theatre's production of Othello. Kinnear was similarly recognised at both the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Theatre Awards.

We'd like to extend our sincere congratulations to the winners - the scripts to all four are avaiable to buy via this website.

Highlights of the Olivier Awards ceremony, which took place at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, are available to watch on the ITV website until 12 May.

We're delighted to announce that Giles Block's Speaking the Speech, the most authoritative, most comprehensive book yet written on speaking Shakespeare’s words, has been shortlisted for the 2014 Theatre Book Prize.

In Speaking the Speech, Giles Block - ‘Master of the Words’ at Shakespeare’s Globe – sets out to answer two simple questions: why does Shakespeare write in the way he does? And how can actors and directors get the most out of his incomparable plays?

Addressing a wide range of topics that any actor approaching Shakespeare's works needs to understand, it is also essential for directors, and of great interest to anyone who wants to deepen their appreciation of Shakespeare’s language and the way it comes to life when spoken aloud. The book also features a Foreword from renowned actor Mark Rylance.

The Theatre Book Prize is an annual award presented by the Society of Theatre Research. All new works of original research first published in English on British or British-related theatre are eligible, except for play texts and studies of drama as literature. The winner is chosen by an independent panel of judges which changes every year.

Also shortlisted are: The National Theatre Story, Daniel Rosenthal (Oberon Books); The Other National Theatre: 350 Years of Shows in Drury Lane, Robert Whelan (Jacob Tonson); Stage Blood, Michael Blakemore (Faber & Faber); Wooden Os: Shakspeare's Theatres and England's Trees, Vin Nardizzi (University of Toronto Press).

The winner of the 2014 Prize will be announced on 9 May at a ceremony at the London Palladium.

SPECIAL OFFER

We're offering a special discount on Speaking the Speech to celebrate its Theatre Book Prize nomination. Get 25% off when you order the book through our website - just use the code SPEECH at checkout. This offer is valid until 8 May 2014.

Nick Hern Books is to publish the scripts of each play in the Royal Shakespeare Company's upcoming Roaring Girls season, a series of rarely performed Jacobethan plays offering great parts written for and about women.

Staged in the Swan Theatre, Stratford-upon-Avon, the season begins in April 2014, and features productions of the following plays:

• The Roaring Girl by Thomas Dekker and Thomas Middleton - a hilarious city comedy in which a young man, desperate to marry the girl he loves, turns to the fearless, feisty, cross-dressing heroine Moll Cutpurse for help (9 April - 30 September)
• Arden of Faversham by Anonymous - a darkly comic thriller. A woman determined to free herself from a miserable marriage by having her husband killed recruits a band of would-be murderers, but her scheme doesn't go entirely according to plan (30 April - 2 October)
• The White Devil by John Webster - a violent tragedy in which two ambitious lovers, snared in a web of corruption, passion and retribution, risk everything in their ruthless pursuit of personal gain (30 July - 29 November)

Completing the season will be The Witch of Edmonton by Dekker, Ford and Rowley, to be staged at the Swan Theatre from October.

Erica Whyman, the deputy Artistic Director of the RSC, describes the season as 'a celebration and a provocation', full of 'fantastic parts for women.'

'We are not going to solve the problems of gender inequality on the stage or in the world, but we are intent on asking some questions about both.'

The Roaring Girls plays will each be published in a Prompt Book edition, featuring the text edited for the RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team.

Digital editions of three NHB titles are available at great prices in the Kindle Spring Sale, which runs from 4 - 21 April. Included in the sale are:

• Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Acting by West End Producer
• Journal of the Plague Year by Max Stafford-Clark
• Let the Right One In by Jack Thorne, adapted from the novel and film by John Ajvide Lindqvist
  

Click the links above to see the titles in the Kindle Store.

Over 100 NHB titles are now available digitally, with more being added all the time. They are published in two formats: MobiPocket files, compatible with Amazon's Kindle and Kindle Fire, and ePub files, compatible with everything else (eg. iPad, iPhone, Nook, Kobo, Sony eReader), and are available from a wide range of retailers and suppliers.

To see the full list of titles currently available as ebooks, click here.

The nominations for the 2014 Olivier Awards were announced today (10 March), with a total of eight NHB plays recognised across multiple categories. Leading the way are Once, Chimerica and Ghosts, with six, five and five nominations respectively.

Once is nominated for six awards: Best New Musical, Best Actress in a Musical (Zrinka Cvitešić), Best Choreographer (Steven Hoggett), Best Set Design (Bob Crowley), Best Sound Design (Clive Goodwin) and Outstanding Achievement in Music (Martin Lowe for composition & arrangements, Glen Hansard & Markéta Irglová for music & lyrics). A charming and irresistible musical based on the Academy Award-winning film, with a book by NHB author Enda Walsh and music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglová, Once tells the story of an Irish busker and a young Czech woman who meet on the streets of Dublin, and strike up an intense, blossoming friendship grounded in a shared love of songwriting. Originally seen on Broadway - where it won eight Tony Awards, including Best Musical and Best Book - Once opened at the Phoenix Theatre, West End, in March 2013.

Lucy Kirkwood's engrossing thriller Chimerica is up for five awards: Best New Play, Best Director (Lyndsey Turner), Best Set Design (Es Devlin), Best Lighting Design (Tim Lutkin & Finn Ross) and Best Sound Design (Carolyn Downing). A gripping political examination and engaging personal drama about an American photojournalist searching for the subject of his most famous photograph - the mysterious Tiananmen Square Tank Man - Chimerica enjoyed a hit West End transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre last summer, following its initial sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre. It was praised by Time Out as 'the play of the year', and has already won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Play, and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Last year, Lucy was also named as the UK recipient of the inaugural Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, a major new prize designed to build links between the UK and US new writing scenes.

Also nominated for Best New Play is The Night Alive, Conor McPherson's inimitably warm and stylish play that deftly mines the humanity to be found in the most unlikely of situations. The Night Alive opened at the Donmar Warehouse, London in June 2013, before transferring to the Atlantic Theater, New York in November.

NHB author Richard Eyre's production of Ghosts receives five nominations: Best Play Revival, Best Director (Richard Eyre), Best Actress (Lesley Manville), Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Jack Lowden) and Best Lighting Design (Peter Mumford). An intense, fast-paced version of Ibsen's classic tragedy both adapted and directed by Eyre, Ghosts opened at the Almeida Theatre in September 2013 to critical acclaim, before transferring to Trafalgar Studios in December.

Elsewhere, Fleabag, Phoebe Waller-Bridge's outrageous comic monologue, is nominated for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. The play, which premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to the Soho Theatre, London, last September, has already won Phoebe a Fringe First Award, Stage Award for Best Solo Performer, Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, Off West-End Awards for Most Promising Playwright and Best Female Performance, and a special commendation at the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize. Fleabag returns to Soho Theatre in May.

There were also a number of other NHB nominations. Jeeves & Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense', written by the Goodale Brothers and adapted from the works of P.G. Wodehouse, is up for Best New Comedy; Ardal O'Hanlon is nominated for Best Actor in a Supporting Role for his performance in Conor McPherson's modern classic The Weir; the Trafalgar Studios revival of Alexi Kaye Campbell's Olivier-winning drama The Pride earns Hayley Atwell a nod for Best Actress; and NHB author Rory Kinnear (whose debut play The Herd recently won him the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright) is nominated for Best Actor for his performance as Iago in the National Theatre's production of Othello.

The winners of the 2014 Olivier Awards will be revealed on 13 April.

The winners of the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize were announced today (25 February), with both the main award and special commendation going to NHB authors.

The winner of the prize was Lucy Kirkwood for her engrossing thriller Chimerica. A gripping political examination and engaging personal drama about an American photojournalist searching for the subject of his most famous photograph - the mysterious Tinananmen Square Tank Man - Chimerica enjoyed a hit West End transfer to the Harold Pinter Theatre last summer, following its initial sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre. It was praised by Time Out as 'the play of the year', and has already won the Evening Standard and Critics' Circle Awards for Best New Play. Last year, Lucy was also named as the UK recipient of the inaugural Berwin Lee Playwrights Award, a major new prize designed to build links between the UK and US new writing scenes.

This year's special commendation was awarded to Phoebe Waller-Bridge for her comic monologue Fleabag. The outrageous play, which premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to the Soho Theatre, London, last September, has already won Phoebe a Fringe First, Stage Award for Best Solo Performer, and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Established in 1978, the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize is given annually to a female playwright working in English. Previous NHB winners include Caryl Churchill (twice), Elizabeth Kuti and Chloe Moss. The other 2014 nominees were Caroline Bird, Sheila Callaghan, Alexandra Collier, Lauren Gunderson, Joanna Murray-Smith, Lucy Prebble, Theresa Rebeck and Beth Steel.

Susan Smith Blackburn Prize winners - Special Offer

To celebrate our authors' success, we're offering a special deal on the two plays listed above. Get either of the recognised plays - Chimerica or Fleabag - at 50% off when you use the code BLACKBURN at checkout. This offer is valid until Monday 31 March.

Nick Hern Books is delighted to announce that it is a new content partner for the revolutionary Drama Online platform.

Drama Online (www.dramaonlinelibrary.com) was launched in March 2013 as a response to increasing demand for a high-quality online research tool for drama and literature students, professors and teachers. It currently contains over 1000 plays from the catalogues of Bloomsbury Methuen Drama, Arden Shakespeare and Faber and Faber, in a fully cross-searchable format which allows students to interact with Character Grids and Part Books, as well as search for plays via cast size and monologues via gender.

‘A ground-breaking digital resource that makes available a vast library of plays and reference works while offering bespoke features tailored to the needs of individual students and researchers. Drama Online blazes the trail for a new era of digital theatre publishing.’  Dr Chris Megson, Royal Holloway, University of London 

‘We are delighted to have the Nick Hern Books list join Drama Online. It will add a strong and significant body of playwriting talent to an already large and impressive collection.’ Jenny Ridout, Editorial Director, Bloomsbury Drama

‘Drama Online rises magnificently to the challenges and opportunities of the digital age, and we’re delighted to join forces with Bloomsbury and Faber and Faber in making the very best dramatic writing available online and on demand around the world.’ Matt Applewhite, Managing Director, Nick Hern Books

‘From its very beginnings twenty-five years ago, Nick Hern Books has set out to publish the best new playwriting to reach the stage. Now the pick of our list of one thousand titles will be available through Drama Online.’ Nick Hern, Founder and Publisher

Content from the Nick Hern Books list will be available on Drama Online from January 2015. For more information about subscriptions, trials and pricing, visit: www.dramaonlinelibrary.com/pages/how-to-subscribe

The winners of The Stage Awards 2014 were announced today (31 January), with the National Youth Theatre winning the prestigious School of the Year category, sponsored by Nick Hern Books.

We would like to extend our heartiest congratulations to the National Youth Theatre on winning the School of the Year Award. The NYT’s achievement in discovering, inspiring, and nurturing the talent of so many young performers and theatre technicians is truly exceptional. We’re proud to support The Stage Awards in recognising excellence in UK drama training, and through our range of practical theatre books we continue to provide the very best training resources for the theatre professionals of the future.

Also nominated for the School of the Year Award were Chickenshed Theatre and Arts Educational London. The winners in the other categories were:

• London Theatre of the Year: Hampstead Theatre
• Fringe Theatre of the Year: Southwark Playhouse
• Regional Theatre of the Year: Sheffield Crucible
• Producer of the Year: Michael Grandage Company
• Unsung Hero of the Year: Andy Collier

The winners of the 25th Critics' Circle Theatre Awards were announced today (28 January), with Nick Hern Books plays and authors winning in six of the nine categories.

Lucy Kirkwood's gripping thriller Chimerica won Best New Play, as well as Best Director for Lindsey Turner and Best Designer for Es Devlin. A gripping political examination and engaging personal drama about an American photojournalist searching for the subject of his most famous photograph - the mysterious Tinananmen Square Tank Man - Chimerica transferred to the Harold Pinter Theatre after a sell-out run at the Almeida Theatre in the summer. Praised by Time Out as 'the play of the year', it was named Best Play at the recent Evening Standard Theatre Awards, and is nominated for Best New Play at the WhatsOnStage Awards.

The Most Promising Playwright award was shared by NHB authors Rory Kinnear and Phoebe Waller-Bridge, for The Herd and Fleabag respectively. Rory Kinnear also won the award for Best Shakespearean Performance.

A witty and heartfelt look at a family falling apart – and pulling together – when life doesn’t turn out quite the way they imagined, The Herd premiered at the Bush Theatre in September. Outrageous comic monologue Fleabag, which premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to the Soho Theatre in September, has already won Phoebe Waller-Bridge a Fringe First and Stage Award for Best Solo Performer, as well as being nominated for an Off West-End Award.

Lesley Manville picked up Best Actress award for Ghosts. Adapted and directed by NHB author Richard Eyre, Ghosts transferred to Trafalgar Studios, where it plays until 22 March, after its initial successful run at the Almeida Theatre. Richard Eyre won Best Director at the Evening Standard Awards for the production.

Critics' Circle Award winners - Special Offer

To celebrate our authors' success, we're offering a special deal on all of the Critics' Circle Award-winning plays listed above. Get any of the four winners - Chimerica, The Herd, Fleabag and Ghosts at 25% off plus free UK p&p when you use the code CIRCLE at checkout. This offer is valid until Friday 14 February.

The nominations for the 86th Academy Awards were announced today (16 January), with August: Osage County, adapted by Tracy Letts from his Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, receiving two nods.

Meryl Streep is nominated for Best Actress in a Leading Role for her performance as Violet Weston. A three-time Academy Award-winner, she has been nominated a record 18 times during her career. 

Julia Roberts receives a nod for Best Actress in a Supporting Role for her performance as Barbara Weston-Fordham. She was also nominated at the 71st Golden Globe Awards, and is shortlisted for the same award at this year's BAFTAs and Screen Actors Guild Awards.

A hugely-acclaimed black comedy exposing the dark side of the Midwestern American family, August: Osage County tells the story of the Westons. Reunited in Oklahoma after the disappearance of their father, they let loose a maelstrom of repressed truths and unsettling secrets. First staged in the UK at the National Theatre in 2008 following its premiere in Chicago, it won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Tony Award for Best Play and Critics' Circle Award for Best Play.

To celebrate August: Osage County's awards success, we're offering the wonderful original playscript for just £7 + free UK p&p when you order through our website. To take advantage of this offer, simply enter the code AUGUST at checkout. This promotion is valid until 7 March 2014 - to purchase your copy now, click here.