TEMPORARY ORDER DELAYS

We’re currently experiencing temporary disruption to the availability of some titles as we move all of our books to a new warehouse, which means it may take longer than normal for your order to reach you. Click here for more information.

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 91-120 of 568 items.
Citysong and other plays

Citysong and other plays

By Carys D. Coburn

The Verity Bargate Award-winning play about three generations of a Dublin family, plus two other plays: Boys and Girls and Drawing Crosses on a Dusty Windowpane.

  • Paperback£12.99 £10.39
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£12.99 £10.39
    Add to basket
Classical Monologues for Men

Classical Monologues for Men

By Marina Caldarone

Fifty monologues for men drawn from classical plays throughout the ages, all prefaced with a summary of the vital information you need to place the piece in context and to perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way.

Classical Monologues for Women

Classical Monologues for Women

By Marina Caldarone

Fifty monologues for women drawn from classical plays throughout the ages, all prefaced with a summary of the vital information you need to place the piece in context and to perform it to maximum effect in your own unique way.

Comment is Free & Start Swimming

Comment is Free & Start Swimming

Two plays

By James Fritz

Two plays by award-winning writer James Fritz, each asking urgent, pointed and complex questions of the times we live in.

The Complete Brecht Toolkit

The Complete Brecht Toolkit

By Stephen Unwin

A practical, hands-on guide - for actors, directors, teachers and students - to Brecht's theory and practice of theatre, with a full set of exercises to help put theory into practice.

The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit

The Complete Stanislavsky Toolkit

By Bella Merlin

A revised and updated edition of Bella Merlin's essential guide to Stanislavsky's terms and ideas.

Contemporary Monologues for Men

Contemporary Monologues for Men

Edited by Trilby James

Fifty fantastic speeches for men, all written since the year 2000, by some of our most exciting dramatic voices. Each speech is prefaced with a thorough introduction including the vital information you need to perform the scene to its maximum effect. The result is the most comprehensive and useful contemporary monologue book now available.

Contemporary Monologues for Teenagers: Female

Contemporary Monologues for Teenagers: Female

Edited by Trilby James

Forty fantastic female speeches for teenagers, all written since the year 2000, by some of the most exciting and acclaimed writers working today.

Contemporary Monologues for Teenagers: Male

Contemporary Monologues for Teenagers: Male

Edited by Trilby James

Forty fantastic male speeches for teenagers, all written since the year 2000, by some of the most exciting and acclaimed writers working today.

The Crocodile

The Crocodile

By Tom Basden Original author Fyodor Dostoyevsky

A ferociously funny, eye-poppingly theatrical play about art, animals and what happens when you try to take on the system from within... a crocodile.

Cyrano de Bergerac

Cyrano de Bergerac

By Edmond Rostand Translated by Anthony Burgess

The nineteenth-century French classic about the swordsman-poet with the nose too large to be taken seriously, in an acclaimed English translation by Anthony Burgess.

Daughterhood

Daughterhood

By Charley Miles

A beautiful, ferocious play about the bonds that tie us, and how we sometimes need to break them.

Desire Under the Elms & The Great God Brown

Desire Under the Elms & The Great God Brown

By Eugene O'Neill

Two plays from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers, developed and conceived in tandem, drawing on the raw experience of the author's own family relationships.

Drama Games for Actors

Drama Games for Actors

Exploring Self, Character and Text

By Thomasina Unsworth

From the bestselling Drama Games series, this dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book offers dozens of games to serve as a rich source of ideas and inspiration for all actors – and those teaching or directing them.

Drama Games for Rehearsals

Drama Games for Rehearsals

By Jessica Swale

A dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book in the bestselling Drama Games series offering dozens of ideas and exercises to energise and inspire a bold, creative rehearsal process for any play, of any period or genre.

Edgar: Shorts

Edgar: Shorts

By David Edgar

A collection of shorter plays from stage and television by one of the UK's foremost political playwrights.

Elephants

Elephants

By Rose Heiney

A sharp black comedy with a tender heart that explores the paths we take in life and their repercussions on the people we love most.

The Encounter

The Encounter

By Simon McBurney and Complicite

A solo show tracing one man's journey into the Amazon rainforest and to the limits of human consciousness, inspired by the book Amazon Beaming by Petru Popescu.

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Going to the Theatre (But Were Too Sloshed to Ask, Dear)

Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Going to the Theatre (But Were Too Sloshed to Ask, Dear)

By West End Producer

West End Producer, the masked man of theatreland and author of the definitive guide to acting, returns with the ultimate guide to the theatregoing experience – for anyone who's ever been to the theatre, or who thinks they might like to try it one day.

Facing the Fear

Facing the Fear

An Actor's Guide to Overcoming Stage Fright

By Bella Merlin

The first book of its kind written specifically for actors, Facing the Fear provides all the tools actors need to understand, confront and ultimately overcome stage fright and its effects, thereby regaining control over their lives and careers.

Fleabag: The Special Edition

Fleabag: The Special Edition

By Phoebe Waller-Bridge

A special edition of the outrageously funny, blazingly forthright stage play, featuring exclusive bonus material.

Four Play

Four Play

By Jake Brunger

A comic play about sex and commitment in the 21st century.

  • Paperback£12.99 £10.39
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£12.99 £10.39
    Add to basket
The Funeral Director

The Funeral Director

By Iman Qureshi

An incisive and heartfelt play about sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. Winner of the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize.

God's Dice

God's Dice

By David Baddiel

Science and religion go head to head in this electric tragicomedy: a ferociously funny battle for power, fame and followers.

Great Expectations

Great Expectations (RSC stage version)

By Charles Dickens Adapted by Declan Donnellan and Nick Ormerod

A gritty adaptation of Dickens' least sentimental love story with a cast of some of his most unforgettable characters.

The Herd

The Herd

By Rory Kinnear

A witty and heartfelt play about a family falling apart – and pulling together – when life doesn't turn out quite the way they imagined.

His Dark Materials

His Dark Materials (stage version)

By Philip Pullman Adapted by Nicholas Wright

A two-play dramatisation of Philip Pullman's extraordinary award-winning fantasy trilogy, first seen at the National Theatre.

The House of Bernarda Alba

The House of Bernarda Alba

By Federico García Lorca Translated by Rona Munro

García Lorca's drama about the shattering effects of emotional repression on a family of cloistered daughters, in a version by playwright Rona Munro for the critically acclaimed Shared Experience Theatre Company.

How to Spot an Alien

How to Spot an Alien

By Georgia Christou

A play for young people (age five and up) to watch, read and perform, about one confused alien, two brave kids and a busted spaceship.

Invisible

Invisible

By Tena Štivičić

A funny, moving and topical portrayal of the world in flux, Invisible explores the many sides of migration.