Released today (27 April) as a published playscript and on film, Isolated But Open: Voices from Across the Shutdown is a new collection of monologues curated by regular NHB partners Papatango Theatre Company.

The ten new monologues in the collection were chosen anonymously from more than two thousand submissions. Funny, poignant, surreal and always surprising, they represent the freshest, most vital and most exciting voices from across the country at this unprecedented time. In addition, award-winning playwrights Rachel De-Lahay and Anders Lustgarten have provided two world premieres.

See more and read the collection for free here.

Theatres may be closed right now, but The NHB Playgroup is OPEN – so join us to discover and discuss fantastic contemporary drama by today's most exciting writers, available to read completely for free.

Each Wednesday during the coronavirus shutdown, we're making one play available for free for one week only, and inviting everyone who reads it to send in a question for the writer. We'll then record a Q&A with them, which we'll release the following Wednesday, along with the next free play!

Our initial line-up of writers includes Anna Jordan, James Fritz, Winsome Pinnock, Enda Walsh, Stef Smith and Ella Hickson - click here for more information.

As of Tuesday 17 March, the Nick Hern Books office is closed until further notice due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. BUT we’re still here, and our team is working remotely. We’re carrying on as normally as possible.

Please visit this page for some key information during this period. If you want to get in touch to discuss anything, please email us at info@nickhernbooks.co.uk. For now: stay safe, let's support and look out for each other, and we're not going anywhere.

Amsterdam, the acclaimed play by Maya Arad Yasur, will be broadcast online for free on Monday 27 January at 7.30pm.

Recorded at the Orange Tree Theatre, Richmond, during its run there in 2019, this strikingly original, audacious drama focuses on an Israeli violinist living in a trendy canal-side apartment in Amsterdam, who one day receives a mysterious unpaid gas bill dated from 1944. It was praised by The Stage as 'fascinating and multilayered', with Time Out calling it 'a moving excavation of the tensions surging under the city’s streets'.

Amsterdam will be broadcast on Monday 27 January, and available to view for a limited period afterwards. Visit the Orange Tree Theatre website for further information and to watch the stream, and see a trailer below.

Amsterdam also embarks on a UK tour from February to May 2020.

Following its hit, multi-award-nominated debut at Southwark Playhouse, gripping drama Shook by Samuel Bailey (Winner, Papatango New Writing Prize) is transferring to Trafalgar Studios in London's West End from April – and to celebrate, we've got an exclusive ticket offer you.

Save 10% on Tier A and Tier B tickets, for all performances from 10 April - 9 May, with code NHBOOKS when you book online here. This offer is valid until 31 January.

What a fantastic year 2019 was for NHB! We were shortlisted for an award at the IPG Independent Publishing Awards; celebrated awards success for loads of our authors including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antony Sher, Frances Poet and Lynn Nottage; launched our new series Multiplay Drama (which is up for a prize at the Music and Drama Education Awards), and of course published over one hundred fantastic new plays and theatre books.

We know that you've been incredibly busy yourselves, as we licensed thousands of performances of Nick Hern Books plays over 2019! We can't wait to see the brilliant work you come up with this year, but for now let's take a look back and get inspired by our Top 10 Most-Performed Plays of 2019.

1. Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale

Jessica Swale holds the top spot in our Top 10 list for the third year running. Her moving, comical and eye-opening historical drama Blue Stockings is a defiant story of four young women fighting for education against the backdrop of women's suffrage. 'Cracking... leaves you astonished at the prejudices these educational pioneers had to overcome' Guardian

Loved this play? Take a look at: Emilia

2. Ladies' Day by Amanda Whittington

Amanda Whittington’s fantastic, female-led plays always hold a deserving place in our Top 10. This high-spirited comedy about four likely lasses from the Hull fish docks on a day trip to the races has been a hit with amateur companies for years. With its warm heart, relatable soul and fabulous roles for women, it's not hard to see why. 'Exuberantly up-to-the-minute comedy' Guardian

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Nightingales

3. The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington

A gripping, female-led drama about Ruth Ellis, the last woman to be hanged in Britain. Holding a place in our Top 10 for the fifth year running, The Thrill of Love dramatises an absorbing true story and takes a fresh look at the woman behind the headlines. 'Tense and engaging throughout... a triumph' The Stage

Loved this play? Take a look at: Machinal

4. Bull by Mike Bartlett

Storming on to the list in the first year of its performing rights re-release, Mike Bartlett’s razor-sharp play about office politics and playground bullying has been an instant hit with amateur companies. Witty and unflinching, Olivier Award-winning Bull offers ringside seats as three employees fight to keep their jobs. 'Short, slick and emotionally unflinching... delivers a decisive punch' The Stage

Loved this play? Take a look at: Contractions

5. The Railway Children by E. Nesbit, adapted for the stage by Mike Kenny

This story of a prosperous Edwardian family who nearly lose everything captures the anxieties and exhilarations of childhood with great tenderness and insight. Mike Kenny's imaginative adaptation of the much-loved children's classic offers three plum roles for young performers, and is eminently suitable for schools, youth theatres and drama groups. 'This glorious adaptation never for a moment runs out of steam' Guardian

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Machine Gunners

6. Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale

Holding a place in our Top 10 ever since its release, this explosive, extravagant, warm-hearted comedy is an unending delight. Boasting a large cast and a charming lead role for a female performer, Nell Gwynn won the Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. 'Bawdy and brilliant... a wonderful, warm-hearted and generous piece of theatrical history' The Stage

Loved this play? Take a look at: Anne Boleyn

7. Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore

A firm favourite with amateur companies, this warm and funny play about friendship offers three great roles for female performers. Crackling with wisdom and wit, Di and Viv and Rose is a humorous and thoughtful exploration of a relationship spanning 30 years. 'Brims over with warm, effervescent humour and sharp perceptiveness' Independent

Loved this play? Take a look at: Little Gem

8. The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted for the stage by Steven Canny and John Nicholson

A gloriously funny makeover of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's most celebrated Sherlock Holmes story, from the hit comedy team Peepolykus. The Hound of the Baskervilles is an energetic spoof, offering abundant opportunities for silly comedy and slapstick for three male performers. 'A masterclass in madcap energy… a fun and fresh Sherlock Holmes romp' The Stage

Loved this play? Take a look at: Dracula: The Bloody Truth

9. Around the World in 80 Days by Jules Verne, adapted for the stage by Laura Eason

Laura Eason's celebrated version of Verne's classic novel packs in more than fifty unforgettable characters. This imaginative adaptation was written for an ensemble cast of eight, but can be performed by a much larger cast – making it perfect for any theatre company or drama group looking for a high-spirited adventure. 'Bursting with imagination, this exuberant whistle-stop tour through Verne is a trip worth making' The Stage

Loved this play? Take a look at: The Three Musketeers

10. The Children by Lucy Kirkwood

New to our Top 10 is Lucy Kirkwood's pressingly topical tragicomic The Children, following two ageing nuclear scientists in an isolated cottage on the coast, as the world around them crumbles. This beautifully written three-hander was named Best Play at the 2018 Writers' Guild Awards. 'Sly, gripping, darkly funny… this is sci-fi kitted out with real people, real dilemmas, real scope' The Times

Loved this play? Take a look at: Foxfinder

Take a look at more of our popular titles over on our Most Performed page, rounding up our Top 20 Plays to Perform. From Andrew Bovell’s bold and complex family portrait Things I Know To Be True, co-produced by renowned physical theatre company Frantic Assembly, to the explosive, award-winning teen drama Girls Like That by Evan Placey, to Ella Hickson’s twist on J. M. Barrie’s classic, Wendy & Peter Pan, which puts Wendy firmly centre-stage, we hope that these hit plays will inspire your search for your perfect next play to perform!

If you're interested in finding out more about these plays, or need any other help or advice, be sure to get in touch with our friendly and knowledgeable Performing Rights team for information and to request your free inspection copy. Call us on 020 8749 4953 or email rights@nickhernbooks.co.uk.

The winners for the Off West End Awards (or Offies, as they're known) 2020 have been announced, with numerous NHB-published plays and authors going home with prizes.

Best New Play was awarded to Ross Willis' bold fantastical Wolfie. This dizzyingly theatrical, wildly irreverent look at life in and after the care system was first seen at Theatre503 in March 2019, and was also named Best Play at The Writers' Guild Awards 2020.

Dylan Coburn Gray, was named Most Promising New Playwright for his Verity Bargate Award-winning play Citysong. This lyrical drama, which tells the story of three generations of a Dublin family on one day, premiered at the Abbey Theatre, Dublin, in May 2019, before transferring to Soho Theatre, London.

The annual Off West End Theatre Awards recognise and celebrate the excellence, innovation and ingenuity of independent theatres across London. Click here to see the full list of 2020 winners.

We’re proud to introduce Nick Hern Books Playscript Subscriptions: a new way to keep up to date with the most exciting contemporary plays by today’s top writers, from the UK’s leading theatre publisher.

Each month we'll send you (or your chosen recipient) one newly published NHB playscript selected by our expert team. It could be a major premiere from a big-name playwright, a timely new version of a classic, or a fresh and exciting work by a talented, up-and-coming writer – all hot off the press, and straight from the UK and Ireland’s most renowned stages.

Nick Hern Books Playscript Subscriptions come in 6-Month or 12-Month packages, and are available to purchase now. For more information, visit our Subscriptions page.

'Tis the season to grab bargains: our Winter Sale now on! Whether you're looking for a great theatre read, an exciting new play by one of today's top writers, a book to help you develop your skills and advance your career, or the perfect gift for a theatre-lover, we've got the right deal for you.

From now until Thursday 28 November, all NHB-published titles* are available at HALF PRICE via our website, for 24 hours only.

And don't forget, you'll get free UK postage & packaging on all orders of £30 or over.

Head to our Winter Sale page to get inspired with some of our most recent highlights - and happy bargain-hunting!

The winners of the Evening Standard Theatre Awards 2019 were announced on Sunday (24 November), with Sweat by Lynn Nottage taking home the prize for Best Play.

Nottage's topical drama, an examination of the American Dream focusing on struggling factory workers in one of the poorest cities in the US - had its UK premiere at the Donmar Warehouse, London, before transferring to the West End. Praised by Time Out as 'one of the great American plays', Sweat had previously won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama and the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

Sweat won from an-all NHB shortlist, which also featured Downstate by Bruce Norris, ear for eye by debbie tucker green and Glass. Kill. Bluebeard. Imp. by Caryl Churchill.

Elsewhere, legendary director and NHB author Peter Brook was named as the recipient of the Lebedev Award, given for his outstanding contribution to British theatre.

See the full list of winners at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards here.