Entries for the Papatango Prize 2021 opened today (27 November), with submissions accepted until 7 February.

The 2021 edition of the Prize – run by Papatango, one of the UK's most renowned new-writing companies, in partnership with English Touring Theatre – has been adapted to respond to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This time, three winners will each receive £2000 for their plays, which will be recorded as audio productions and will then tour the UK in free listening stations, with scripts including braille translations, so that audiences everywhere can enjoy brilliant new writing in their local theatre when such programming is under threat. Venues already confirmed for the tour include Bristol Old Vic, Bush Theatre, Chichester Festival Theatre, Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse, Lyric Theatre Belfast, Stephen Joseph Theatre, Southwark Playhouse, Theatre Clwyd and Theatre Royal Plymouth.

The winning plays will also be published in ebook format by NHB.

The Papatango Prize is free to enter, scripts are judged anonymously, and every entry receives individual feedback. To see full information about the Prize, and to enter, visit the Papatango website.

The recipients of the Olivier Awards 2020 were announced last night (Sunday 25 October), with NHB-published Dear Evan Hansen one of the ceremony's big winners.

The acclaimed, groundbreaking show by Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek and Justin Paul took home three prizes: Best New Musical, Best Original Score or New Orchestrations, and Best Actor in a Musical (Sam Tutty). Its Olivier Awards wins follow the huge success of Dear Evan Hansen's Broadway premiere, where it won six Tony Awards including Best Musical, as well as the Grammy Award for Best Musical Theater Album.

Dear Evan Hansen was playing at the Noel Coward Theatre in London's West End, until it was forced to close in March due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is currently slated to return in 2021.

We're delighted to announce that we're now inviting applications to license Nick Hern Books plays for amateur online performance.

With theatres currently closed, an online performance is the perfect way to bring your members or students together to keep sharing your passion, experience great new plays by today's most exciting writers, and stay active and connected. Whether you're looking to share a play you've always been passionate about (maybe even getting a former cast together for a revival!), test out a show you've had your eye on for a future, fully staged production, or try something completely different, we're here to support you in making that happen.

Online performance licences are available for both live-streamed performances and broadcasts of recorded productions, at a discounted rate of £75 plus VAT (or less for shorter plays) for each live performance or day that the production remains online.

For more information on how the whole process works, visit our Online Performances page.

Theatre Centre and Theatre503 have today (14 May) announced ImagiNation, a new project proudly supported by NHB. 

19 writers have created new short plays, which are available to read online. Everyone who reads these is encouraged to record themselves performing as many as they like, and submit their finished videos to Theatre Centre by 20 July for the chance to appear in a compilation film.

To help with the recording, Theatre Centre have also released free video resources with experienced tutors, sharing tips on acting, directing, recording your film, and using your voice.

The writers involved are: Jon Brittain, Ryan Calais Cameron, Alex Critoph, Zinnie Harris, Matilda Ibini, Asif Khan, Geraldine Lang, Bethan Marlow, Eoin McAndrew, Nicholas McQuillan, Nessah Muthy, Amy Ng, Chinonyerem Odimba, Lettie Precious, Leo Skilbeck, Julie Tsang, Daniel Ward, Timberlake Wertenbaker and Roy Williams.

See more about ImagiNation here.

Like everybody else, here at Nick Hern Books we’ve been closely following the developing news on coronavirus (COVID-19). We understand this is an uncertain time, and that you’ll be making decisions with the wellbeing of your audience, cast and crew foremost in your mind – so we want you to know that we’re here to help and support you, and answer any questions you may have.

If you have an upcoming production licensed by us, please visit our COVID-19 information page for answers to some frequently asked questions. If you can’t find the information you’re looking for, then please get in touch with us at rights@nickhernbooks.co.uk and we’ll be happy to provide further support.

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.