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 1-30 of 568 items.
The Ground On Which I Stand

The Ground On Which I Stand

By August Wilson

A passionate and controversial call for black cultural separatism, from the author of the Olivier award-winning Jitney and the Pulitzer Prize-winning King Hedley II.

  • Paperback£6.99 £5.59
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Much Ado About Nothing

Much Ado About Nothing (West End edition)

By William Shakespeare Edited by Robert Hastie and Josie Rourke

A consummate romantic comedy that dramatises the battle of the sexes with a dazzling display of Shakespeare's wit and wordplay.

  • Paperback£6.99 £5.59
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
The Golden Rules of Acting

The Golden Rules of Acting

By Andy Nyman

A treasure trove of advice, support and encouragement that no performer should be without. Honest, witty and direct, The Golden Rules of Acting is every actor's best friend – in handy paperback form.

More Golden Rules of Acting

More Golden Rules of Acting

that nobody ever tells you

By Andy Nyman

More priceless nuggets from the author of The Golden Rules of Acting, gleaned from more than thirty years in the acting business. This is every actor's new best friend – in handy paperback form. 

The Prisoner

The Prisoner

By Peter Brook and Marie-Hélène Estienne

A provocative study of what it means to be free, by the internationally acclaimed theatre director and his long-time collaborator.

Richard III

Richard III (West End edition)

By William Shakespeare Edited by Jamie Lloyd

Jamie Lloyd's version of Shakespeare's Richard III, edited for his Trafalgar Transformed production of the play in 2014, with additional bonus material.

The Small Things

The Small Things

By Enda Walsh

A fierce and devastating fable about enforced silence.

  • Paperback£7.99 £6.39
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£7.99 £6.39
    Add to basket
Arthur & George

Arthur & George (stage version)

By Julian Barnes Adapted by David Edgar

The gripping story of the sensational, real-life case in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found himself playing detective.

  • Paperback£8.99 £7.19
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£8.99 £7.19
    Add to basket
Cling To Me Like Ivy

Cling To Me Like Ivy

By Samantha Ellis

A sassy, offbeat comedy-drama about rebelling against your roots.

Ding Dong the Wicked

Ding Dong the Wicked

By Caryl Churchill

A short play by one of the UK's leading dramatists.

A child is shut in her room, a dog is dead in the road, someone is kissing her brother in law. A family locked in hatred is sending a son to war.

Educating Agnes

Educating Agnes

By Liz Lochhead

A dark and wickedly funny farce about one man's twisted attempts to find a woman he can control completely.

Happy Now?

Happy Now?

By Lucinda Coxon

A painfully truthful, darkly comic take on contemporary life and how to survive it.

  • Paperback£8.99 £7.19
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£8.99 £7.19
    Add to basket
Lay Me Down Softly

Lay Me Down Softly

By Billy Roche

A heartfelt slice of life in small-town Ireland, brimming with passions and all-too-human foibles, from the author of the well-loved Wexford Trilogy.

Love the Sinner

Love the Sinner

By Drew Pautz

A tense and provocative play offering a remarkably fresh and painful take on our perpetual guilt in the face of poverty and brutality in the developing world.

Mrs Klein

Mrs Klein

By Nicholas Wright

A play about the controversial psychoanalyst Melanie Klein, a haunting and poignant study of mother-daughter relationships.

Never So Good

Never So Good

By Howard Brenton

A fascinating portrait of Harold Macmillan in an epic play about the decline of British fortunes in the middle of the twentieth century.

  • Paperback£8.99 £7.19
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£8.99 £7.19
    Add to basket
Penelope

Penelope

By Enda Walsh

A savage, tragicomic take on the classic Greek myth of Penelope, wife of Odysseus.

The Price of Everything

The Price of Everything

By Fiona Evans

A tense and gripping drama, loaded with dark humour, about the price we pay for material possessions and the effect it has on those we love.

Rafta, Rafta...

Rafta, Rafta...

By Ayub Khan Din

A hugely warm-hearted, comic tale of close-knit Indian family life in England, by the author of East is East.

Red

Red

By Somalia Seaton

An unflinching and bold exploration of the internal lives of young women. Part of Platform, an initiative aimed at addressing gender imbalance in theatre.

Satin 'n' Steel

Satin 'n' Steel

By Amanda Whittington

A comic two-hander about the irresistible allure of showbusiness, from the author of Be My Baby.

  • Paperback£8.99 £7.19
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Secrets of Stage Success

Secrets of Stage Success

Your Questions Answered

By Louise Dearman and Mark Evans
Two of the biggest musical-theatre stars working today answer questions submitted by the public on a wide range of theatrical topics.
Six Acts of Love

Six Acts of Love

By Ioanna Anderson

A bittersweet play about the rich complexities of life, love and death.

  • Paperback£8.99 £7.19
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Surviving Actors Manual

Surviving Actors Manual

By Felicity Jackson and Lianne Robertson

The essential, one-stop handbook for actors, with everything you need to survive and thrive, from the team behind the internationally successful Surviving Actors conventions.

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.

  • Paperback£9.99 £7.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£9.99 £7.99
    Add to basket
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.

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.

  • Paperback£9.99 £7.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£9.99 £7.99
    Add to basket
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.