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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 151-180 of 568 items.
This is Living

This is Living

By Liam Borrett

A poignant exploration of what it means to say goodbye.

Trestle

Trestle

By Stewart Pringle

A tender but truthful exploration of love and ageing, asking how we choose to live in the face of soaring life expectancies. Winner of the 2017 Papatango New Writing Prize.

The White Bike

The White Bike

By Tamara von Werthern

An affecting play, based on a true story, about what happens when our world is turned upside down.

Who is Sylvia? and Duologue

Who is Sylvia? and Duologue

By Terence Rattigan

Two plays from one of the leading dramatists of the 20th century.

Wish List

Wish List

By Katherine Soper

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.

Women Centre Stage: Eight Short Plays By and About Women

Women Centre Stage: Eight Short Plays By and About Women

By various Edited by Sue Parrish

A collection of short plays curated by Sue Parrish, Artistic Director of Sphinx Theatre.

Words Into Action

Words Into Action

Finding the Life of the Play

By William Gaskill

Packed with insights from a lifetime of directing theatre, Words into Action is a fascinating read and a vital masterclass for actors and directors.

The Working Actor

The Working Actor

The Essential Guide to a Successful Career

By Paul Clayton

The 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 £10.39
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
  • Ebook£12.99 £10.39
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Woyzeck

Woyzeck

By Georg Büchner Adapted by Jack Thorne

The multi-award-winning Jack Thorne breathes new life into Georg Büchner's existential masterpiece, Woyzeck, one of the most extraordinary plays ever written.

Writing Music for the Stage

Writing Music for the Stage

A Practical Guide for Theatremakers

By Michael Bruce Foreword by Josie Rourke

The definitive guide to writing music for the stage, by the Composer-in-Residence at the Donmar Warehouse.

Yen

Yen

By Anna Jordan

Anna 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.

All the Little Lights

All the Little Lights

By Jane Upton

A poignant, moving and darkly funny play about young girls slipping through the cracks in society. Joint winner of the 2016 George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright.

Anne Boleyn

Anne Boleyn

By Howard Brenton

A celebration of a great English heroine, Anne Boleyn dramatises the life and legacy of Henry VIII's notorious second wife, who helped change the course of the nation's history.

Arabian Nights

Arabian Nights (RSC stage version)

By Dominic Cooke

A simple and delightfully inventive re-telling of the stories from the Arabian Nights.

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.

Bad Roads

Bad Roads

By Natal'ya Vorozhbit Translated by Sasha Dugdale

A heartbreaking, powerful and bitterly comic account of what it is to be a woman in wartime.

Ballyturk

Ballyturk

By Enda Walsh

A gut-wrenchingly funny, achingly sad play featuring jaw-dropping moments of physical comedy.

Beauty and the Beast

Beauty and the Beast (National Theatre stage version)

By Lucy Kirkwood and Katie Mitchell

Lucy Kirkwood's delightful version of the classic fairytale, first seen in a production devised and directed by Katie Mitchell at the National Theatre for Christmas 2010.

Big White Fog

Big White Fog

By Theodore Ward

A poignant family drama set in Chicago against a backdrop of the Great Depression and the inescapable racism of the times.

  • Paperback£11.99 £9.59
    There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
Boys Will Be Boys

Boys Will Be Boys

By Melissa Bubnic

An exhilarating play about a ruthless female City trader who takes on a young and ambitious protegee.

Broken Biscuits

Broken Biscuits

By Tom Wells

A beautiful, heart-warming, laugh-out-loud coming-of-age story for our times.

The Browning Version

The Browning Version

By Terence Rattigan

Rattigan's well-loved play about an unpopular schoolmaster who snatches a last shred of dignity from the collapse of his career and his marriage.

buckets

buckets

By Adam Barnard

Wry, emotive, funny and heartfelt, buckets is a play with a unique perspective on a universal dilemma: how do you deal with the fact that time always runs out?

Burying Your Brother in the Pavement

Burying Your Brother in the Pavement

By Jack Thorne

A play about grief and looking at someone that little bit more closely. Written specifically for young people, Burying Your Brother in the Pavement was part of the 2008 National Theatre Connections Festival and was premiered by youth theatres across the UK.

Consensual

Consensual

By Evan Placey

An explosive and thought-provoking play from the author of Girls Like That, exploring what happens when buried secrets catch up with you.

Cost of Living

Cost of Living

By Martyna Majok

Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, an exquisitely original, honest and deftly funny play that explores our need to connect and be loved regardless of the gulfs that disability, race, class, and wealth place between us.

Dexter and Winter's Detective Agency

Dexter and Winter's Detective Agency

By Nathan Bryon

A madcap adventure story for young people (and older detectives) to watch, read and perform.

A Dream Play

A Dream Play

By August Strindberg Adapted by Caryl Churchill

Caryl Churchill's spare and resonant version of Strindberg's enigmatic masterpiece.

Eight

Eight

By Ella Hickson

Eight compelling monologues offering a state-of-the-nation group portrait for the stage.

The Fall

The Fall

By James Fritz

A funny, moving and candid look at young people's relationships to older people, confronting the frightening prospect of ageing in a country undergoing crises of housing and care.