The winners of the 2025 Offies (Off-West End Awards) were announced yesterday (17 March 2025) at a star-studded ceremony at Central Hall Westminster. And there were plenty of Nick Hern Books titles amongst them...

Benedict Lombe's intoxicating romance Shifters, which premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, before transferring to the West End, was one of the evening's big winners with awards in the Creation category (writer Benedict Lombe), the Performance category (actors Heather Agyepong and Tosin Cole) and the Sound & Music category (composer XANA).

Manjeet Mann's Run, Rebel, a stage adaptation of her own graphic novel, staged in a touring production by Pilot Theatre, was awarded in the Production category.

David Edgar's Here in America, about a confrontation between two giants of the stage and screen, Arthur Miller and Elia Kazan, won in the Performance category (Faye Castelow for her performance as Molly Kazan). Edgar's play was premiered at the Orange Tree Theatre in Richmond.

Lanra Malaolu's play Now, I See, a powerful fusion of music, song and text which premiered at Stratford East, London, won in the Design category (lighting designer Ryan Day).

And Sonali Bhattacharyya's King Troll (The Fawn), a dystopian fable exploring the migrant experience that was premiered at New Diorama Theatre, London, was awarded in the Sound & Music category (composer XANA).

Congratulations to all our winners!

The nominations for the 2025 Olivier Awards were announced today (4 March 2025), with plenty of recognition for Nick Hern Books and our authors.

NHB publishes four out of the five plays nominated for Best New Play: Lindsey Ferrentino's death row drama The Fear of 13 (which premiered at the Donmar Warehouse in 2024), Mark Rosenblatt's play about Roald Dahl, Giant (Royal Court Theatre, and coming to the West End in April), Benedict Lombe's powerful romance Shifters (Bush Theatre and West End), and Eline Arbo's adaptation of Annie Ernaux's The Years (Almeida Theatre, and currently at the Harold Pinter Theatre in the West End).

Nominated for Best Revival are Sophie Treadwell's Machinal (Old Vic, London) and Robert Icke's Oedipus (Wyndham's Theatre, West End). Robert Icke is himself nominated for Best Director for Oedipus, alongside Eline Arbo for The Years and Nicholas Hytner for Giant.

Amongst the nominations for Best New Production in Affiliate Theatre are Tatty Hennessy's adaptation of George Orwell's Animal Farm (currently at Stratford East before touring to Leeds and Nottingham) and Lanre Malaolu's Now, I See, which premiered at Stratford East in 2024.

Hofesh Shechter is nominated for Best Theatre Choreographer for his work in Ella Hickson's adaptation of Oedipus, currently at the Old Vic in London.

Heather Agyepong is nominated for Best Actress for her performance in Shifters, alongside Lesley Manville in Robert Icke's Oedipus, Rosie Sheehy in Machinal, and Indira Varma in Ella Hickson's Oedipus.

The nominations for Best Actor include Adrien Brody for The Fear of 13, John Lithgow for Giant, and Mark Strong for Robert Icke's Oedipus.

Romola Garai is nominated twice for Best Supporting Actress, for her performances in Giant and in The Years. Gina McKee is also nominated in this category for her performance alongside Garai in The Years, while Elliot Levey is nominated for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Giant.

Good luck to all nominees! The winners will be announced at the awards ceremony on Sunday 6 April at the Royal Albert Hall in London.

Created in collaboration between Nick Hern Books and fellow drama publishers Bloomsbury, Faber and Concord Theatricals, the (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play Lists highlight fantastic plays by writers of colour, selected by a panel of expert advisors, which are great for 11-18 year-olds (and beyond) to read, study and perform.

The Play Lists aim to support schools to create more representative and inclusive drama experiences within the English and Drama curricula. They form part of the wider Lit in Colour campaign founded in 2020 by Penguin and The Runnymede Trust.

The 2024 Play List, which has just been released, features nineteen wonderful NHB-published plays by writers including Waleed Akhtar, Sonali Bhattacharyya, debbie tucker green, Sami Ibrahim, Benedict Lombe, Arinzé Kene and Lynn Nottage. You can read the full 2023 and 2024 lists here.

Matt Applewhite, Managing Director at Nick Hern Books, said:

'We have been delighted by the enthusiastic reception to the first (Incomplete) Lit in Colour Play List – but not surprised. We knew there was a very real, very urgent need for more plays by more diverse writers to be more widely known, read, studied, performed and celebrated, and we have been actively working for some time to diversify and broaden our list of authors. The sense of the canon being disrupted and rewritten is exciting and long overdue. Thank you to everyone who has dived into the first list – we hope this second list offers you another springboard for rich discoveries.'

Two NHB projects have made the shortlists for the Music & Drama Education Awards 2025, which were announced today (18 October).

The Drama Workshop Leader by Linden-Walcott Burton is in the running for Outstanding Drama Education Resource. Written by a facilitator with over fifteen years' experience running workshops for renowned organisations including the National Youth Theatre, Barbican and The Old Vic, this book is a comprehensive guide to planning and delivering effective drama sessions – no matter what's thrown your way.

Elsewhere, Multiplay Drama: Season 2 is shortlisted for Outstanding Drama Initiative. First introduced in 2019, Multiplay Drama provides fantastic large-cast plays – originally commissioned by some of the UK's top drama schools and youth theatres – specifically written to be performed by and appeal to young people. Season 2 was launched in 2023, and expands the series with ten more plays in an exciting variety of styles, genres and subject matters. (Season 1 of Multiplay Drama was also shortlisted for the same award in 2020.)

The winners of the Music & Drama Education Awards 2025 will be announced in January. Recent NHB winners have included our Platform play series (in partnership with Tonic Theatre), and When This Is Over (in partnership with Company Three).

Azuka Oforka won Best Writer at last night's The Stage Debut Awards for her play The Women of Llanrumney, which was premiered at Sherman Theatre, Cardiff, in May this year.

The play, which explores the lives of women on a Welsh-owned slave plantation in Jamaica in 1765, was described as 'a scorching writing debut that marks the arrival of an exhilarating new voice' (The Stage).

The Best Writer award was shared with Sam Grabiner for Boys on the Verge of Tears at Soho Theatre. Their joint victory marks the first time the gong has been won by two writers.

Also on the shortlist for Best Writer were NHB authors Martha Loader for Bindweed (HighTide/New Wolsey Theatre) and Harry McDonald for Foam (Finborough Theatre).

Other winners at this year's Stage Debut Awards, which were held in London on 29 September, included Jack Wolfe, who won the Best West End Debut Performer award for his performance in Tom Kitt and Brian Yorkey's musical next to normal, and Daniel Bailey, who won the Best Creative West End Debut award for his work as director on Tyrell Williams's play Red Pitch (@sohoplace).

Entries for the Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting – the largest playwriting competition in Europe – are now open until 6pm GMT on Thursday 9 January 2025.

The Prize is open to writers based in the UK and Ireland, and submissions must be original plays (i.e. not adaptations, translations or musicals) over one hour long which have not been previously received a professional production. There are two further awards categories – the International Award (open by invitation via five overseas theatres) and the North West Original New Voice Award and Residency, for writers who live in the North West of England. Further details of each category, eligibility and the entry process can be found here.

A total prize pot of £50,000 is available, and the overall winner will also enter a relationship with the Royal Exchange with the aim of developing their play towards production.

Nick Hern Books has been the proud Publishing Partner of the Bruntwood Prize ever since its inception in 2005, and has so far published almost twenty plays recognised by the Prize – see the full list of plays here. Good luck to everybody entering this year!