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 391-420 of 568 items.
Pop Music

Pop Music

By Anna Jordan

A rollercoaster of a play for anyone that’s ever been a dick on the dance floor.

Poppy + George

Poppy + George

By Diane Samuels

A romantic drama with music inspired by the days of music hall and beyond, from the author of the modern classic Kindertransport.

Precious Little Talent & Hot Mess

Precious Little Talent & Hot Mess

By Ella Hickson

Two plays by award-winning playwright Ella Hickson.

Pressure

Pressure

By David Haig

An intense real-life thriller centred around the most important weather forecast in the history of warfare.

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.

Princess & The Hustler

Princess & The Hustler

By Chinonyerem Odimba

A play about a cheeky 10-year-old with a plan to win the Weston-super-Mare Beauty Contest, against the backdrop of Black British Civil Rights marches in 1960s Bristol.

  • Paperback£10.99 £8.79
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • A4 Spiral-bound£14.99 £11.99
    Add to basket
  • Ebook£10.99 £8.79
    Add to basket
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.

a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun)

a profoundly affectionate, passionate devotion to someone (-noun)

By debbie tucker green

Three couples. What might be. What once was. What could have been.

Pronoun

Pronoun

By Evan Placey

A love story about transition, testosterone, and James Dean - commissioned as part of the 2014 National Theatre Connections Festival and premiered by youth theatres across the UK.

Puppetry: How to Do It

Puppetry: How to Do It

By Mervyn Millar

A practical, accessible and inspiring guide to using puppetry in theatre, by a leading expert in the field.

Purple Heart

Purple Heart

By Bruce Norris

A deeply moving meditation on love, loss and grief, from the author of Clybourne Park.

The Quality of Mercy

The Quality of Mercy

Reflections on Shakespeare

By Peter Brook

One of the world's most revered theatre directors reflects on a fascinating variety of Shakespearean topics.

Queen Margaret

Queen Margaret

By William Shakespeare Adapted by Jeanie O'Hare

Using Shakespeare’s orginal lines, alongside new text, Jeanie O’Hare retells The Wars of the Roses through the eyes of the extraordinary Margaret of Anjou.

Queers: Eight Monologues

Queers: Eight Monologues

By various Created by Mark Gatiss

Queers celebrates a century of evolving social attitudes and political milestones in British gay history, as seen through the eyes of eight individuals.

The Quiet House

The Quiet House

By Gareth Farr

An exploration of infertility and the taboo that surrounds it, The Quiet House is a funny, moving and unswervingly honest love story.

Rabbit Hole

Rabbit Hole

By David Lindsay-Abaire

The Pulitzer Prize-winning drama about a happy suburban couple whose lives are changed forever when their young son is killed in an accident.

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.

The Railway Children

The Railway Children (stage version)

By E. Nesbit Adapted by Mike Kenny

An imaginative stage adaptation of E. Nesbit's much-loved children's classic.

Ramona Tells Jim

Ramona Tells Jim

By Sophie Wu

A darkly comic debut play about confession and the gravity of young love.

random

random

By debbie tucker green

An urgent play about the senseless killing of a black schoolboy, from one of the most distinctive voices in contemporary British playwriting.

Rathmines Road

Rathmines Road

By Deirdre Kinahan

Fraught, funny, and ferocious, a play that challenges the cultural response to accusations of sexual assault.

Rattigan's Nijinsky

Rattigan's Nijinsky

By Nicholas Wright and Terence Rattigan

The extraordinary story of the relationship between the famous dancer Vaslav Nijinsky and the impresario Sergei Diaghilev, drawing on an unproduced screenplay by Terence Rattigan.

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.

The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes (stage version)

By Nancy Harris Original author Hans Christian Andersen

A contemporary retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's extraordinary fairytale of dance, desire and destruction.

The Retreat

The Retreat

By Sam Bain

A comedy about getting away from it all - the debut play from the BAFTA Award-winning co-writer and co-creator of Peep Show, Fresh Meat and Four Lions.

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.

Romeo and Juliet

Romeo and Juliet (Plays at the Garrick edition)

By William Shakespeare Edited by Kenneth Branagh

Shakespeare's heartbreaking tale of forbidden love, brought to life in a new production co-directed by Rob Ashford and Kenneth Branagh.

Ross

Ross

By Terence Rattigan

Terence Rattigan's epic and probing drama about the man immortalised as Lawrence of Arabia.

Run

Run

By Stephen Laughton

Stephen Laughton's one-man play about a gay Jewish seventeen-year-old explores what it means to love, to lose, and how to grow from a boy into a man.

Run Sister Run

Run Sister Run

By Chloë Moss

A witty and heartfelt play about two sisters, exploring family, class and dependence.