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.