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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 91-120 of 568 items.
Sunrise

Sunrise

By Jessie Cave

An honest, tender-hearted and uproariously funny story from actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave – with colour illustrations throughout.

Asking for It

Asking for It (stage version)

By Louise O'Neill Adapted by Meadhbh McHugh With Annabelle Comyn

A powerful adaptation of Louise O'Neill's devastating novel about the experience of a young woman whose life is changed forever by a horrific act of violence.

Dealing with Clair

Dealing with Clair

By Martin Crimp

A satire on yuppie moral and emotional bankruptcy and a bleak, black comedy thriller.

The Funeral Director

The Funeral Director

By Iman Qureshi

An incisive and heartfelt play about sexuality, gender and religion in twenty-first-century Britain. Winner of the 2018 Papatango New Writing Prize.

The Hoes

The Hoes

By Ifeyinwa Frederick

A riotous celebration of sisterhood, showing that while life may throw up unexpected turbulence, friendships will last the course.

Victoria's Knickers

Victoria's Knickers

By Josh Azouz

An epic romcom telling the story of an unlikely romance between the Queen of England and a boy from the wrong side of the tracks. Premiered by the National Youth Theatre.

Close Quarters

Close Quarters

By Kate Bowen

A taut, funny and powerful drama about the first generation of female soldiers to serve in the British infantry in close combat.

ear for eye

ear for eye

By debbie tucker green

Snapshots of lives, snapshots of experiences of protest; violence vs non-violence, direct action vs demonstrations, ear for eye follows characters navigating their way through society today.

Being a Playwright

Being a Playwright

A Career Guide for Writers

By Chris Foxon and George Turvey

The essential guide to a career in playwriting, from the team behind the multi-award-winning Papatango, one of the UK's leading new-writing companies.

Crossings

Crossings

By Deirdre Kinahan

A play with live music, waltzing and unexpected connections, exploring how we return, resettle and adapt.

National Youth Theatre Monologues

National Youth Theatre Monologues

75 Speeches for Auditions

Edited by Michael Bryher

An exciting and invaluable collection of audition speeches, all chosen from plays produced by the National Youth Theatre of Great Britain, spanning more than sixty years as one of the world’s leading companies for young performers.

Rathmines Road

Rathmines Road

By Deirdre Kinahan

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

Stories

Stories

By Nina Raine

A funny and touching new play about the fertilisation of an idea.

Thick As Thieves

Thick As Thieves

By Katherine Chandler

A tense, revealing play that explores what it means to care for one another and asks who, in a time of increasing disconnect, we expect to look after us.

The Wider Earth

The Wider Earth

By David Morton

A 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.

The Sweet Science of Bruising

The Sweet Science of Bruising

By Joy Wilkinson

An epic tale of passion, politics and pugilism in the world of 19th-century women’s boxing.

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.

Eyam

Eyam

By Matt Hartley

A play about an outbreak of the plague in a small Derbyshire village in 1665.

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.

The Unreturning

The Unreturning

By Anna Jordan

A compelling drama that explores the profound effect that war has on young lives.

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.

Pop Music

Pop Music

By Anna Jordan

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

Steel

Steel

By Chris Bush

A play exploring the last three decades of women in politics, asking what's changed and what still must.

Holy Sh!t

Holy Sh!t

By Alexis Zegerman

An acerbic new comedy about four forty-somethings wrestling for school places for their children.

Caterpillar

Caterpillar

By Alison Carr

A darkly funny, searing and tender drama about those moments when we find ourselves teetering on the edge.

The Humans

The Humans

By Stephen Karam

A powerful comedy-drama about a family gathering at Thanksgiving, from a gifted young American playwright.

Ibsen on Theatre

Ibsen on Theatre

Edited by Frode Helland and Julie Holledge

A unique collection of everything that Ibsen wrote about the theatre.

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.

Homos, or Everyone in America

Homos, or Everyone in America

By Jordan Seavey

A raw and provocative portrait of a love story, exploding attitudes, emotions and prejudices that sit at the heart of relationships across the world.

Blackthorn

Blackthorn

By Charley Miles

A contemporary, lyrical love story that explores the changes and choices that pull us from the places and people we love.