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 Changing Room
A play about being a teenager, written specifically for young people, part of the 2018 National Theatre Connections Festival.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Chekhov on Theatre
A unique collection of everything that Chekhov wrote about the theatre - including newspaper articles and letters - revealing his instinctive curiosity about the way theatre works and his concerns about how best to realise his own intentions as a playwright.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79The Children
Two ageing nuclear scientists in an isolated cottage on the coast, as the world around them crumbles. Then an old friend arrives with a frightening request.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79A Christmas Carol (RSC stage version)
By Charles Dickens Adapted by David EdgarAn adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic – one of the best-loved stories ever written – that rediscovers the social conscience of the timeless tale.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Consent
By Nina RaineA powerful, painful, funny play about the meaning of justice and consent when two friends take opposing briefs in a rape case.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Coram Boy (stage version)
By Jamila Gavin Adapted by Helen EdmundsonA heartbreaking tale of orphans, angels, murder and music - dramatised from the Whitbread award-winning novel set in 18th-century England.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Darknet
A fascinating - and terrifying - drama that explores the world of data commodification and the uncharted deep web.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Dear Evan Hansen: The Complete Book and Lyrics (West End edition)
A new edition of the hugely successful musical, published alongside its West End premiere.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79
The Deep Blue Sea
Written in the early fifties when Rattigan was at the height of his powers, The Deep Blue Sea is a powerful account of lives blighted by love - or the lack of it.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Downstate
By Bruce NorrisA provocative play about four men convicted of sex crimes, from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Clybourne Park.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Dracula: The Bloody Truth
By John Nicholson and Le Navet BeteA comic retelling of the story of Dracula, from John Nicholson and Exeter-based theatre company Le Navet Bete.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Drama Games for Classrooms and Workshops
101 great drama games for use in any classroom or workshop setting. Part of the Nick Hern Books Drama Games series.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Drama Games for Devising
As part of the ever-growing, increasingly popular Drama Games series, Jessica Swale returns with another dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book, packed with dozens of drama games that can be used in the process of devising theatre.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Drama Games for Those Who Like to Say No
A dip-in, flick-through, quick-fire resource book for teachers and workshop leaders working with difficult or reluctant students, youth groups, young offenders, and all those who seem intent on saying 'no' to whatever is offered them.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Drip Feed & The Half Of It: Two Plays
By Karen CoganTwo rich and startling monologues from award-winning actor and playwright Karen Cogan.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79East is East
A wonderful comedy about growing up in multiracial Salford.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Education, Education, Education
A theatrical love letter to the schools of the 1990s, asking big questions about a country in special measures, exploring what we are taught and why, and where responsibility lies. Full of inventive theatricality and irreverent humour.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Epic Love and Pop Songs
A smart, funny play about love, friendship and growing up, from the author of WINK and Fury.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Escaped Alone
A play about three old friends and a neighbour having tea in the back yard, and contemplating catastrophe.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Acting (But Were Afraid to Ask, Dear)
A witty, insightul and deliciously naughty guide on how to succeed in showbusiness, by the anonymous Internet sensation West End Producer.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Evoking (and forgetting!) Shakespeare
By Peter BrookRenowned theatre director Peter Brook on the essential questions facing anyone performing Shakespeare today.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79
The Excellent Audition Guide
By Andy JohnsonAn engaging, upbeat guide for any student thinking of applying to drama school.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Fanny & Alexander (stage version)
By Ingmar Bergman Adapted by Stephen BeresfordIngmar Bergman’s magical study of childhood, family and love.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Faustus: That Damned Woman
By Chris BushA radical reimagining of the classic cautionary tale, transforming the iconic character of Faustus into a woman who makes the ultimate sacrifice and sells her soul to wrestle control of her own destiny.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79The Ferryman
Preparations for the annual harvest on a farm in County Armagh in the 1980s are interrupted by a visitor. Winner of the Evening Standard Theatre Award and Tony Award for Best Play, and the Critics' Circle, Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards for Best New Play.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Fleabag: The Original Play
The outrageously funny play that became the wildly successful and 'utterly riveting' (Guardian) BBC television series.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Follies
By Stephen Sondheim and James GoldmanSondheim's landmark musical about a reunion of showgirls, with a book by James Goldman.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79
Freak
By Anna JordanA punchy and provocative new play by the Bruntwood Prize-winning author of Yen.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Ghost Stories (stage version)
By Jeremy Dyson and Andy NymanThe terrifying stageplay and worldwide cult phenomenon about a Professor of Parapsychology whose rationality is tested to breaking point – and beyond.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79Girls Like That
By Evan PlaceyAn urgent and explosive play that explores of the pressures on young people today in the wake of advancing technology.
- Paperback
£10.99£8.79Add to basketA4 Spiral-bound£16.99£13.59Add to basketEbook£10.99£8.79
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