We're greatly saddened to learn of the passing of celebrated playwright, dedicated mentor and cherished NHB author Stephen Jeffreys.

Here, publisher Nick Hern remembers the man he called an author and a friend:

'My relationship with Stephen dates back thirty years, initially as his publisher, latterly as a friend. A nicer man and all-round gent you couldn’t hope to meet. Also a brilliant and inspiring teacher.

Having sat in on one of his famous writing workshops at the Royal Court, I immediately commissioned him to write a book. That was twenty years ago, but whenever we met in the intervening years – usually at Royal Court press nights with him in his trademark hat – he would assure me that progress was being made. When he got ill, progress suddenly became a matter of urgency.

The book was still incomplete – though in its final stages – when he died, and his friends and colleagues and above all his widow Annabel Arden are striving to complete it. Playwriting – Structure; Character; How and What to Write will be published in the next few months to sit alongside a volume of collected plays which came out in July.

Dear Stephen: he will be much missed by this country’s playwriting community as well as, of course, by audiences of the brilliant plays he wrote, and those – tragically – he never got to write.'

The nominees for the UK Theatre Awards 2018 were announced today (14 September), with NHB-published productions featured across a number of categories.

Gut by Frances Poet is nominated for Best New Play. A taut psychological thriller that asks: who can be trusted with our children – and is it more dangerous not to trust at all? - it was first produced at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in association with the National Theatre of Scotland.

The Assassination of Katie Hopkins by Chris Bush and Matt Winkworth is shortlisted for Best Musical Production. This smart, satirical musical about truth, celebrity and public outrage premiered at Theatr Clwyd, Mold, in April 2018, directed by James Grieve.

The UK Theatre Awards are the only nationwide Awards to honour and celebrate outstanding achievements in regional theatre throughout England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. This year’s winners will be announced on Sunday 14 October 2018.

For more about the UK Theatre Awards, including the full lists of this year's nominee, visit their website.

The new academic year is upon us – and thanks to our Back to School Sale, you can get all the books you need to learn new skills, or brush up on old ones, at great discounted prices.

From now until the end of September, you can save 30% on thirty of our top titles for actors, students and teachers, when you enter voucher code BACKTOSCHOOL at checkout. Plus, get free UK postage and packaging on all orders over £30. 

To take advantage of the offer, head to our Back to School Sale page, make your picks and enter discount code BACKTOSCHOOL at checkout. This offer ends 30 September 2018.

★★★★★ - One of the finest achievements of the Royal Shakespeare Company in recent years… an exhilarating and timely political drama' Guardian

'★★★★★ - The sheer scale of the enterprise inspires awe' WhatsOnStage

'★★★★ - Strikingly relevant. A must-see drama' The Times

Cicero, the greatest orator of his age, devotes all his energy and cunning to preserve the rule of law, and defend Rome’s Republic against the predatory attacks of political rivals, discontented aristocrats, and would-be military dictators.

Imperium is a backstage view of Ancient Rome at its most bloody and brutal, told through the eyes of Tiro, Cicero’s loyal secretary.

Adapted by Mike Poulton from Robert Harris’s bestselling The Cicero Trilogy, Imperium is an epic event comprising six plays presented in two performances. The acclaimed Royal Shakespeare Company production is currently playing at the Gielgud Theatre in London's West End until 8 September 2018. Find out more about the productions here.

To celebrate the hit West End transfer, we've teamed up with the production team to offer one lucky winner the chance to receive a pair of tickets to Part I or Part II for any performances, excluding Saturdays, between now and the end of August, at the Gielgud Theatre, London (subject to availability), plus a copy of the playscript.

To enter our exciting competition, click here.

August is almost upon us, which can mean only one thing: it's nearly time for the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and Edinburgh International Festival. Every year for three weeks, the Scottish capital finds itself at the absolute epicentre of the arts world – and NHB is proud to publish some of the very best theatre on offer at both festivals in 2018.

So to celebrate our line-up, we're offering you 30% off all of the plays we're publishing at Edinburgh 2018. To claim this discount, browse the full line-up and enter code NHBEDINBURGH18 at checkout when ordering via this website. This offer is valid until 31 August 2018. Don't miss out!

'★★★★★ - One of Nina Raine's most enjoyable and intelligent plays yet. Unreservedly recommended' Independent

'★★★★★ - A thrilling revenge drama… powerfully written, and both entertaining and
thought-provoking' The Arts Desk

'★★★★★ - This is a play you’ll be talking about for a long time to come' Radio Times

Why is Justice blind? Is she impartial? Or is she blinkered?

Friends Ed and Tim take opposing briefs in a rape case. The key witness is a woman whose life seems a world away from theirs. At home, their own lives begin to unravel as every version of the truth is challenged.

Consent, Nina Raine’s powerful, painful, funny play, sifts the evidence from every side and puts Justice herself in the dock. It premiered as a co-production between the National Theatre and Out of Joint, directed by Roger Michell at the National Theatre in 2017, and transferred to the West End in 2018. The production runs at the Harold Pinter Theatre until 11 August 2018, find out more here.

To celebrate the hit West End transfer, we've teamed up with our friends at Sonia Friedman Productions to offer one lucky winner the chance to receive a pair of tickets to Consent at the Harold Pinter Theatre, London (subject to availability), plus a copy of the playscript.

To find out more, click here.

July sees the culmination of London's Pride Festival, with the annual Pride Parade taking place in the city on Saturday 7 July. To mark the occasion, we're launching a very special Pride Sale, running until the end of July.

From now until the end of the month, our website customers get 30% off a hand-picked selection of sixteeen NHB-published plays that capture, chronicle and celebrate LGBT+ experiences and voices.

Choose from a wide range of styles and subjects – from the epic sweep of Tony Kushner's landmark AIDS drama Angels in America, via the pungent hilarity of Kevin Elyot's award-winning comedy My Night with Reg, to the passionate polemic of Larry Kramer's The Normal Heart.

Also included is Queers, the kaleidoscopic series of short plays curated by Mark Gatiss for the BBC. We've got a limited number of copies signed by Mark Gatiss, available until they're all gone!

For a full list of the promoted titles, and to find out how to claim your 30% off, visit to our Pride Sale page here.

Ever since Nick Hern Books started in 1988, we've been a proud home to the very best playwrights and theatre-makers around, sharing their work with audiences across the UK and beyond.

2018 is a big one for us: we're officially 30 years old. And to mark this milestone, we invite you, our loyal readers, to join us for a special celebration: our 30th Birthday Sale!

From now until 10am, Wednesday 27 June, all NHB-published titles* are available at 50% off via our website.

Choose from our range of hundreds of playscripts including recent hits, modern greats and Drama Classics from around the world, fascinating and entertaining reads by leading practitioners, inspiring books on theatre-making skills such as acting, directing and writing, and much, much more.

Whatever your taste in theatre, we've got the perfect book for you.

It's our way of saying a big THANK YOU to all of you for reading our books and supporting us over the years – so check out our Sale page for inspiration, join our party and grab yourself a bargain.

But hurry: our 30th Birthday Sale ends 10am on Wednesday 27 June!

The acclaimed National Theatre production of Angels in America by Tony Kushner has won three Tony Awards at this year's ceremony, it was announced today (10 June).

The epic two-part play took home the Awards for Best Revival, Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role in a Play for Andrew Garfield's portrayal of Prior Walter and Best Performance by an Actor in a Featured Role in a Play for Nathan Lane's Roy Cohn. Angels in America returned to the NT last year, twenty-five years after its premiere in 1992, before transferring to New York in February. The production also won Best Revival at this year's Olivier Awards.

NHB author Jack Thorne also picked up the Tony Award for Best Play for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, Parts One and Two. The production premiered in London in 2016 and also received the Olivier Award for Best New Play.

To see the full list of winners, visit the Tony Awards website.

The nominees for The South Bank Sky Arts Awards 2018 were announced today (Tuesday 29 May), with Jez Butterworth's mighty play The Ferryman and Stephen Sondheim and James Goldman's legendary musical Follies shortlisted in the Theatre category.

Set in County Armagh, Northern Ireland, in 1981, The Ferryman sees the Carney family's traditional harvest celebrations interrupted by the arrival of a visitor, whose shocking news threatens to unravel all they've built. After premiering to huge acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre in 2017, the play transferred to the West End's Gielgud Theatre for a year-long run, and will debut on Broadway this October. It has previously won Best Play at the Evening Standard Theatre Awards and Best New Play at the Olivier Awards, WhatsOnStage Awards and Critics' Circle Awards.

Sondheim and Goldman's landmark musical Follies is set in New York, 1971, the night before the iconic Weismann Theatre is to be demolished. Thirty years after their final performance, the Follies girls gather to have a few drinks, sing a few songs, and lie about themselves. Follies received a major revival at the National Theatre in 2017, directed by NHB author Dominic Cooke, and will return there in 2019.

Previous NHB winners of the Sky Arts Awards include Mike Bartlett's King Charles III and Jack Thorne's adaptation of John Ajvide Lindqvist's Let the Right One In.

The winners of this year's awards will be announced at a ceremony at The Savoy Hotel in London on Sunday 1 July 2018, which will be broadcast on Sky Arts later in the week. To see the full list of nominees, click here.