NHB Modern Plays

A fascinating and funny play for two actors – and one octopus – exploring love, grief and what makes us human.

A powerful, angry and surprising play about the person who came to be known as 'the Elephant Man', restoring Joseph Merrick to the centre of his own story.

A heart-wrenching play about the international ivory trade, portraying humankind's capacity for corruption and greed, and our continued destruction of the natural world.

A thrilling stage adaptation of Kafka's visceral literary landmark, first produced by Frantic Assembly.

An urgent and lyrical play from a leading Canadian playwright, about young people questioning the choices that have been made, and the ones that they will yet be forced to make.

Four plays from the award-winning collective of Irish theatremakers: bold, playful, genre-spanning work, all premiered at the Dublin Fringe Festival between 2017 and 2023.

A play about the Dagenham Invincibles, aka Sterling Ladies, the greatest women's football team in Britain during World War One, and their legacy in the present day.

A Welsh language adaptation of the hit play by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, first staged by Theatr Clwyd in 2023.

A play that tackles climate breakdown with big ideas, a lot of laughs, and some truly grotesque cabaret numbers.

A play that questions how everyone can be safe at the same time. A time-travelling set of interweaving stories exploring injustice, freedom and bravery.

A play about memory, happiness, Rasputin, and dancing. And also the Queen. Premiered by MALAPROP Theatre at the Dublin Fringe Festival in 2017.

A play about codes, hallucinations, Isaac Newton, war crimes, seeing meaning where there's none and vice versa. First staged by MALAPROP Theatre at the 2021 Dublin Fringe Festival.

An explosive, savagely funny first play by Deborah Frances-White, comedian, screenwriter and host of the global hit podcast The Guilty Feminist.

Sam Holcroft's elusive and explosive new play about censorship, authorship and free speech, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London, in August 2023, directed by Jeremy Herrin.

A cutting-edge drama – part free-wheeling lecture, part podcast and part play – investigating the disappearance of Iranian pop sensation and refugee Fereydoun Farrokhzad in 1992.

An uplifting ensemble comedy set to some of the most popular opera songs ever written. Premiered at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, and Dundee Rep.

A mile-a-minute, one-person poem play about a young female drug dealer, exploring forgiveness, the exhaustion of trying, and mistaking self-destruction for self-preservation. Premiered at the 2023 Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

A one-man play about disaster capitalism, empire, Thatcherite politics, stolen youth, stolen wealth and a working-class boy who just wants his dad to smile at him. First performed by the celebrated political comedian Mark Thomas in Paines Plough's Roundabout during the 2023 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.