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.
Zoo and Twelve Comic Monologues for Women
A wildly inventive comedy drama about courage, female friendship and flamingos. This volume also includes twelve comic monologues for female performers.
- Paperback
£11.99£9.59Add to basketEbook£11.99£9.59The York Mystery Plays
Adapted by Mike PoultonThe greatest story ever told, in a version by Mike Poulton, premiered at York Minster in May 2016.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£9.99£7.99Yen
By Anna JordanAnna Jordan's Bruntwood Prize-winning play, Yen explores a childhood lived without boundaries and the consequences of being forced to grow up on your own.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39Year of the Mad King: The Lear Diaries
By Antony SherAntony Sher's account of researching, rehearsing and performing one of Shakespeare's greatest roles, Lear, in the 2016 Royal Shakespeare Company production. Winner of the 2019 Theatre Book Prize.
- Hardback
£16.99£13.59There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£16.99£13.59Year of the King
By Antony SherA classic of theatre writing, a unique insight into the creation of a landmark Shakespearian performance.
- Paperback
£14.99£11.99Add to basketEbook£14.99£11.99Wuthering Heights (stage version)
By Emily Brontë Adapted by Andrew SheridanA ferocious, wild and utterly exhilarating adaptation of Emily Brontë's indelible masterpiece.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Writing Music for the Stage
A Practical Guide for Theatremakers
By Michael Bruce Foreword by Josie RourkeThe definitive guide to writing music for the stage, by the Composer-in-Residence at the Donmar Warehouse.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39The Writer
By Ella HicksonA young writer challenges the status quo but discovers that creative gain comes at a personal cost.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Woyzeck
By Georg Büchner Adapted by Jack ThorneThe multi-award-winning Jack Thorne breathes new life into Georg Büchner's existential masterpiece, Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39World Factory: The Game
By Zoë Svendsen and Simon DawA participative theatre experience about global consumer capitalism, offering readers the opportunity to play – as individuals or in teams – the managers of a clothing factory in China.
- Paperback
£14.99£11.99Add to basketEbook£14.99£11.99The Working Actor
The Essential Guide to a Successful Career
By Paul ClaytonThe essential guide to being a successful working actor: how to put yourself in the best possible position to get work, to keep getting it, and to make a living from it.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£12.99£10.39Words Into Action
Finding the Life of the Play
Packed with insights from a lifetime of directing theatre, Words into Action is a fascinating read and a vital masterclass for actors and directors.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39Women Centre Stage: Eight Short Plays By and About Women
By various Edited by Sue ParrishA collection of short plays curated by Sue Parrish, Artistic Director of Sphinx Theatre.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39Wolfie
By Ross WillisA wildly imaginative, irreverent look at life in and after the care system.
- Paperback
£11.99£9.59Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£11.99£9.59Wolf Hall & Bring Up the Bodies (stage version)
By Hilary Mantel Adapted by Mike PoultonMike Poulton's two-part adaptation of Hilary Mantel's acclaimed novels Wolf Hall and Bring Up the Bodies. A thrilling and utterly convincing portrait of a brilliant man embroiled in the lethal, high-stakes politics of the Court of Henry VIII.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79
The Witch of Edmonton
Dekker, Ford and Rowley's remarkable play, published here in an RSC Prompt Book edition with introductions by key members of the creative team behind the RSC revival in 2014.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
Wit
A striking and sharply funny reflection on the frailty of existence and the complex relationship between knowledge and love.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£10.99£8.79Wish List
A sensitive, delicate and powerful play that asks what our labour is worth and how life can be lived when the system is stacked against you. Winner of the 2015 Bruntwood Prize for Playwriting.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39The Winterling
A comedy thriller from the author of the Olivier Award-winning Jerusalem.
- Paperback
£11.99£9.59Add to basketEbook£11.99£9.59The Winter's Tale (Plays at the Garrick edition)
By William Shakespeare Edited by Kenneth BranaghThe official tie-in edition to the Kenneth Branagh Theatre Company's 2015 production, starring Judi Dench. Featuring exclusive additional content.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£9.99£7.99The Winslow Boy
Rattigan's 1946 play based on the real-life court case of a young naval cadet unjustly accused of stealing a five-shilling postal order.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99WINK
An electrifying drama about what happens to personal identity in an age of ubiquitous technology and social media.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Wild Swimming
By Marek HornA kaleidoscopic exploration of cultural progress, an interrogation of gender and privilege, and a wilfully ignorant history of English Literature.
- Paperback
£11.99£9.59Add to basketEbook£11.99£9.59Wild
A darkly comic play that explores the unexpected, bewildering, and life-changing consequences of challenging the status quo at a global level.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£9.99£7.99The Wider Earth
By David MortonA powerfully dramatic play about Charles Darwin's voyage on board HMS Beagle - an adventure that changed not only his own life, but also the history of the entire world.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Why Is That So Funny?
A Practical Exploration of Physical Comedy
By John Wright Foreword by Toby JonesA practical investigation of how comedy works, by a well-respected practitioner and teacher. With a Foreword by Toby Jones.
- Paperback
£14.99£11.99Add to basketEbook£14.99£11.99Who is Sylvia? and Duologue
Two plays from one of the leading dramatists of the 20th century.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39The White Devil (RSC version)
By John WebsterA violent tragedy, regarded as one of the great works of Jacobean theatre. Features the text edited for the 2014 RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
The White Bike
An affecting play, based on a true story, about what happens when our world is turned upside down.
- Paperback
£12.99£10.39Add to basketEbook£12.99£10.39When They Go Low
A play about everyday feminism, consent and the changing face of teenage sexuality in an online world. Written for the National Theatre Connections Festival.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79
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