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Nick Hern Books

UPDATE, 1pm Friday 19 March – this 40% Off Sale has now finished. Thank you so much to everyone who took part!

Choose from hundreds of top plays and books, and support freelancers affected by the impact of COVID-19


On 16 March 2020, as the COVID pandemic continued to spread across the UK, hundreds of theatres nationwide were forced to shut their doors. At the time, we all thought it would only be for a few weeks – but incredibly, a full year on, these treasured stages are still dark. That was also the day we temporarily shut down the NHB office, as our team switched to working remotely. Twelve months later, those doors remain closed, too.

So as the theatre community prepares to mark this unexpected anniversary, we've ventured back to NHB HQ to raid our shelves and offer you the chance to save 40% on hundreds of great playscripts and theatre books, and raise money for hard-hit theatre-workers and freelancers, in our special Sale.

Due to incredible demand, we've extended the Sale by an extra 24 hours, so it now finishes at 1pm GMT on Friday 19 March. No voucher code is required – just fill your basket with as many of the brilliant titles below as you like, head to checkout, and your discount will be automatically applied. This offer applies to paperback and hardback editions only (ebooks are not included), and all orders over £40 receive free UK delivery.

Plus, £1 from every book sold in our Sale will go to the Theatre Artists Fund, which continues to provide emergency support for theatre-workers and freelancers across the UK affected by the devastating impact of COVID-19 on the theatre sector.

We've put together an incredible selection of almost SIX HUNDRED titles, all currently available at 40% off – choose from famous, award-winning hits; wonderful, lesser-known plays we just know you'll love; brilliant shows that were sadly forced to close due to COVID; books to develop your skills or learn new ones; fascinating reads by leading names, and much more.

Pick up something you always had your eye on at a special price, or try something you've never heard of before – who knows, you might be about to discover your new favourite writer...

Everything included in the Sale has been handpicked from the shelves at NHB HQ, and stock is strictly limited. So if you see something you want, move fast to avoid missing out – because once it's gone, it's gone!

Head to the bottom of this page the entire range – or check out our curated Sale Selections, bringing together books and playscripts on different subjects and themes – and be sure to grab your bargains before our Sale ends on Friday.

It's been a really rough year for everyone connected to theatre, but we've been constantly inspired by the resilience and creativity shown by so many across the community, and with venues starting to announce re-opening plans, there's genuine hope that the lights might come back on soon. So join us to celebrate the art form we all love, and thank you for helping support freelancers at this really difficult time.

Some key info:

  • This Sale runs from 1pm GMT on Tuesday 16 March to 1pm GMT on Friday 19 March only.
  • Only titles listed on this page are available at a 40% discount. This offer applies to the physical editions (paperback, hardback and CD) only; ebooks are not included.
  • Stock of all titles included in the Sale is strictly limited. If your order contains a title that has already sold out, we will get in touch to ask if you would like to: a) swap for an item of the same value, or b) receive a refund for the value of that item.
  • All Sale orders will be dispatched from Monday 22 March. From this point, our standard delivery times will apply – please click here for more information.
  • £1 from every book sold will be donated to the Theatre Artists Fund, which provides emergency support for theatre workers and freelancers across the UK.

With almost six hundred titles included in our Sale, there's a lot to choose from.

So to help you browse through what's available, we've put together fifteen curated selections of playscripts and books on different subjects and themes, and for different readers – each packed with fantastic titles we just know you'll love. Explore tailored lists for actors, backstage practitioners and drama teachers, plays impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic you can still enjoy on the page, plays in translation, adaptations, tie-in and special editions, and more.

Click here to browse the selections – or see below for the entire range of what's available at the 40% discount.
Showing 1-30 of 568 items.
100

100

By Christopher Heimann, Neil Monaghan and Diene Petterle

A strikingly original play combining traditional storytelling with physical theatre, created by The Imaginary Body. Winner of a Fringe First Award at the 2002 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

100 Great Plays for Women

100 Great Plays for Women

By Lucy Kerbel Foreword by Kate Mosse

An inspiring guide to a hundred plays that put female performers centre stage, dispelling the myth that 'There just aren't any good plays for women'. With a foreword by Kate Mosse.

3 Winters

3 Winters

By Tena Štivičić

A portrait of an eclectic family, held together by the courage to survive. Winner of the 2015 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize.

8 Hotels

8 Hotels

By Nicholas Wright

A play about passion, suspicion and revenge, based on true events involving some of the twentieth century's most influential American artists.

Abigail

Abigail

By Fiona Doyle

A man in his forties and a woman in her twenties meet on a trip to Berlin. Across a fractured timeline where past and present collide, the story of their relationship, their love and their struggle unravels.

The Acedian Pirates

The Acedian Pirates

By Jay Taylor

A play that challenges our understanding of mythology, and forces us to ask vital questions about military occupation.

The Acting Book

The Acting Book

By John Abbott

A ‘fast-forward’ acting course covering all the essential techniques an actor needs to know and use – with a suite of exercises to put each technique into practice.

Acting Through Song

Acting Through Song

Techniques and Exercises for Musical-Theatre Actors

By Paul Harvard

An impassioned and invaluable guide for actors and students of musical theatre.

Actioning - and How to Do It

Actioning - and How to Do It

By Nick Moseley

A step-by-step guide to 'actioning', one of the most widely used rehearsal techniques for actors. An indispensable companion to a vital component in every actor's toolkit.

Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus

Actions: The Actors' Thesaurus

By Marina Caldarone and Maggie Lloyd-Williams

A vital companion for actors in rehearsal - a thesaurus of action-words to revitalise performance, with a foreword by Terry Johnson.

The Active Text

The Active Text

Unlocking Plays Through Physical Theatre

By Dymphna Callery

Dymphna Callery, author of Through the Body: A practical guide to physical theatre, shows how exercises and rehearsal techniques associated with physical and devised theatre can be applied to scripted plays.

The Actor and the Camera

The Actor and the Camera

By Denis Lawson Foreword by Ewan McGregor

The ultimate insider’s guide to acting for film and TV, from an actor well known for his roles on TV and in films. With a foreword by Ewan McGregor.

Advice from the Players

Advice from the Players

By Laura Barnett

A host of tips and guidance on every aspect of the actor’s craft, direct from some of the best-known stars of stage and screen, including Julie Walters, Lenny Henry, Harriet Walter, Simon Callow, Mark Gatiss, David Harewood, Jo Brand, Simon Russell Beale, Lesley Manville, Zawe Ashton and Mathew Horne, amongst many others.

Again

Again

By Stephanie Jacob

A touching and comic drama about a family reunion, delving into the turmoil, love and compromises of kinship.

Albion

Albion

By Mike Bartlett

Mike Bartlett's outstanding play, set in the ruins of a garden in rural England.

All Change Please

All Change Please

A Practical Guide to Achieving Gender Equality in Theatre

By Lucy Kerbel Foreword by Rufus Norris

A book about the need for change in theatre, to reflect the gender balance of the world it seeks to represent, and how, with everyone's help, we can achieve it.

All Our Children

All Our Children

By Stephen Unwin

A moving examination of a terrifying moral dilemma, and a powerful story that shows what it takes for humanity and decency to be restored in a world that has abandoned them.

All the Little Lights

All the Little Lights

By Jane Upton

A poignant, moving and darkly funny play about young girls slipping through the cracks in society. Joint winner of the 2016 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Alys, Always

Alys, Always (stage version)

By Harriet Lane Adapted by Lucinda Coxon

A psychological thriller, adapted for the stage from Harriet Lane's gripping novel.

And Then Come The Nightjars

And Then Come The Nightjars

By Bea Roberts

A tender, frank and funny play about a West Country farm struggling to survive the Foot and Mouth pandemic.

Animal Farm

Animal Farm (stage version)

By George Orwell Adapted by Ian Wooldridge

A powerful and straightforward dramatisation of Orwell's enduring parable on the perils of totalitarianism.

  • Paperback£10.99 £8.79
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • A4 Spiral-bound£14.99 £11.99
    Add to basket
Anna Christie

Anna Christie

By Eugene O'Neill

Eugene O’Neill’s epic Pulitzer Prize-winning play about love and forgiveness.

  • Paperback£10.99 £8.79
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

By Howard Brenton

A celebration of a great English heroine, Anne Boleyn dramatises the life and legacy of Henry VIII's notorious second wife, who helped change the course of the nation's history.

The Antipodes

The Antipodes

By Annie Baker

Part satire, part sacred rite, a play that asks what value stories have for a world in crisis.

The Approach

The Approach

By Mark O'Rowe

Both psychological puzzle and quietly devastating tragedy, Mark O'Rowe's The Approach explores the inner lives of three women as they desperately try to make sense of their world.

Appropriate

Appropriate

By Branden Jacobs-Jenkins

A gripping play about ghosts and the legacies we are left with.

Arabian Nightmares: Three Plays

Arabian Nightmares: Three Plays

By Henry Naylor

Three timely one-act plays, showing the brutal and bloody impact of the current Middle Eastern crisis on ordinary people: The Collector, Echoes and Angel.

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights (RSC stage version)

By Dominic Cooke

A simple and delightfully inventive re-telling of the stories from the Arabian Nights.

Arden of Faversham

Arden of Faversham

By anonymous

A domestic tragedy about a woman plotting to have her husband murdered, Arden of Faversham was first published in 1592. Its authorship is unknown, although suggestions include Thomas Kyd, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare.

  • Paperback£9.99 £7.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Arlington

Arlington

By Enda Walsh

A strange, tender love story from the author of Disco Pigs and The Walworth Farce.