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.
The Ground On Which I Stand
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£5.59There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Much Ado About Nothing (West End edition)
A consummate romantic comedy that dramatises the battle of the sexes with a dazzling display of Shakespeare's wit and wordplay.
- Paperback
£6.99£5.59There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
The Golden Rules of Acting
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.
- Paperback
£7.99£6.39
More Golden Rules of Acting
that nobody ever tells you
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.
- Paperback
£7.99£6.39
The Prisoner
A provocative study of what it means to be free, by the internationally acclaimed theatre director and his long-time collaborator.
- Paperback
£7.99£6.39Add to basketEbook£7.99£6.39Richard III (West End edition)
By William Shakespeare Edited by Jamie LloydJamie Lloyd's version of Shakespeare's Richard III, edited for his Trafalgar Transformed production of the play in 2014, with additional bonus material.
- Paperback
£7.99£6.39Add to basketEbook£7.99£6.39The Small Things
By Enda WalshA fierce and devastating fable about enforced silence.
- Paperback
£7.99£6.39There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£7.99£6.39Arthur & George (stage version)
By Julian Barnes Adapted by David EdgarThe gripping story of the sensational, real-life case in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle found himself playing detective.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£8.99£7.19Cling To Me Like Ivy
A sassy, offbeat comedy-drama about rebelling against your roots.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19Ding Dong the Wicked
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.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19Educating Agnes
By Liz LochheadA dark and wickedly funny farce about one man's twisted attempts to find a woman he can control completely.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19
Happy Now?
A painfully truthful, darkly comic take on contemporary life and how to survive it.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£8.99£7.19Lay Me Down Softly
By Billy RocheA 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.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19
Love the Sinner
By Drew PautzA 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.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19
Mrs Klein
A play about the controversial psychoanalyst Melanie Klein, a haunting and poignant study of mother-daughter relationships.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19Never So Good
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£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£8.99£7.19Penelope
By Enda WalshA savage, tragicomic take on the classic Greek myth of Penelope, wife of Odysseus.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19The Price of Everything
By Fiona EvansA 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.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19
Rafta, Rafta...
A hugely warm-hearted, comic tale of close-knit Indian family life in England, by the author of East is East.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19
Red
An unflinching and bold exploration of the internal lives of young women. Part of Platform, an initiative aimed at addressing gender imbalance in theatre.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19Satin 'n' Steel
A comic two-hander about the irresistible allure of showbusiness, from the author of Be My Baby.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Secrets of Stage Success
Your Questions Answered
By Louise Dearman and Mark EvansTwo of the biggest musical-theatre stars working today answer questions submitted by the public on a wide range of theatrical topics.- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.19Six Acts of Love
A bittersweet play about the rich complexities of life, love and death.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Surviving Actors Manual
By Felicity Jackson and Lianne RobertsonThe essential, one-stop handbook for actors, with everything you need to survive and thrive, from the team behind the internationally successful Surviving Actors conventions.
- Paperback
£8.99£7.19Add to basketEbook£8.99£7.198 Hotels
A play about passion, suspicion and revenge, based on true events involving some of the twentieth century's most influential American artists.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Abigail
By Fiona DoyleA 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£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99The Acedian Pirates
By Jay TaylorA play that challenges our understanding of mythology, and forces us to ask vital questions about military occupation.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Advice from the Players
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.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Again
A touching and comic drama about a family reunion, delving into the turmoil, love and compromises of kinship.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99All Our Children
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.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99
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