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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 301-330 of 568 items.
A Little Night Music

A Little Night Music

By Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler

An utterly sophisticated and charming musical boasting such numbers as 'Send in the Clowns' and 'A Weekend in the Country'.

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

Little Revolution

By Alecky Blythe

An explosive verbatim play about the 2011 London Riots, by the author of the award-winning London Road.

Lizzie Siddal

Lizzie Siddal

By Jeremy Green

A gripping historical drama charting one woman's dazzling trajectory from model to lover to artist, to a tragic figure in her own right.

Liz Lochhead: Five Plays

Liz Lochhead: Five Plays

By Liz Lochhead

Five plays from the the makar (national poet) of Scotland, one of the country's best-known - and best-loved - living playwrights.

  • Paperback£14.99 £11.99
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£14.99 £11.99
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London Road

London Road

By Alecky Blythe and Adam Cork

An experimental and challenging work which reveals the ways in which even the darkest experiences can engender a greater sense of our mutual dependence.

Kenneth Lonergan: Three Plays

Kenneth Lonergan: Three Plays

By Kenneth Lonergan

A collection of plays by the acclaimed film director, playwright and screenwriter: This Is Our Youth, The Waverly Gallery and Lobby Hero.

Long Day's Journey into Night

Long Day's Journey into Night

By Eugene O'Neill

A true modern classic from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers.

Lose Yourself

Lose Yourself

By Katherine Chandler

A fast and wild ride into the darker side of our celebrity obsessed culture.

Losing Venice

Losing Venice

By Jo Clifford

An epic fable set in the faraway Spanish Golden Age, about the deranged behaviour of countries that have lost an empire and still not yet found a role.

Love and Information

Love and Information

By Caryl Churchill

From one of the UK's most influential playwrights - a fast moving kaleidoscope in which more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know.

Love in Idleness/Less Than Kind

Love in Idleness/Less Than Kind

By Terence Rattigan

The third in Terence Rattigan's unofficial trilogy of war plays, published alongside an earlier version of the play, Less Than Kind, never staged during Rattigan's lifetime.

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.

Low Level Panic

Low Level Panic

By Clare McIntyre

A funny, unapologetic play about the effects of society's objectification of women.

The Low Road

The Low Road

By Bruce Norris

A fable of free market economics and cut-throat capitalism.

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

Luise Miller

By Friedrich Schiller Adapted by Mike Poulton

A masterpiece of power and politics that explores the battle between honour and corruption, between truth and betrayal.

Mad About the Boy

Mad About the Boy

By Gbolahan Obisesan

A timely, urgent, razor-sharp drama about a teenage boy fighting to save his reputation, torn between the influence of his family, his friends and his school.

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

Maggie May

By Frances Poet

An extraordinary drama about an ordinary family who must balance the challenges of daily life whilst living with dementia.

Making Noise Quietly: three short plays

Making Noise Quietly: three short plays

By Robert Holman

An acclaimed trilogy of plays exploring the impact of war on ordinary lives.

Making Theatre

Making Theatre

The Frazzled Drama Teacher's Guide to Devising

By Joss Bennathan

An inspiring, practical handbook for anyone working with young people to make devised theatre.

The Mandate

The Mandate

By Nikolai Erdman Adapted by Declan Donnellan

A chillingly grotesque farce set in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution.

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off

Mary Queen of Scots Got Her Head Chopped Off

By Liz Lochhead

A modern classic about the bitter rivalry between Mary, Queen of Scots, and her cousin and fellow ruler, Elizabeth I of England - retold by Scotland's most popular playwright.

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein

Mary Shelley's Frankenstein (stage version)

By Mary Shelley and Rona Munro

A brilliant adaptation of Mary Shelley's Gothic masterpiece that places the writer herself amongst the action as she wrestles with her creation and with the stark realities facing revolutionary young women, then and now.

Mary's Babies

Mary's Babies

By Maud Dromgoole

A provocative, funny and fascinating play, inspired by the true story of Mary Barton and her husband Bertold Wiesner, pioneers of fertility treatment.

The Master Builder

The Master Builder

By Henrik Ibsen Adapted by David Edgar

An enthralling version of an unforgettable Ibsen classic.

Masterclass: Men

Masterclass: Men

The Actor's Audition Manual

By Dean Carey

An extensive guide to acting, followed by close to a hundred audition pieces chosen from the whole of world drama.

Masterclass: Women

Masterclass: Women

The Actor's Audition Manual

By Dean Carey

An extensive guide to acting, followed by close to a hundred audition pieces chosen from the whole of world drama.

Maydays & Trying It On: two plays

Maydays & Trying It On: two plays

By David Edgar

Two plays by David Edgar, written thirty-five years apart, both exploring the theme of youth and revolution.

Mayfly

Mayfly

By Joe White

An ethereal family drama exploring rebirth in the aftermath of tragedy.

Meat

Meat

By Gillian Greer

A play about class, consent and transgressions buried in the past, set over the course of one winesoaked evening in a Dublin restaurant.

Mermaid

Mermaid

By Polly Teale

A bold reimagining of Hans Christian Andersen's tale of love, loss and desire, transported to a contemporary setting.

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