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.
Strangers in Between
Tommy Murphy's unflinching and constantly surprising drama about how we make sense of who we are through our often fraught relations with others.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Sugar Baby
By Alan HarrisA one-man comedy-drama about a small-time drug dealer in Cardiff, from critically acclaimed writer Alan Harris.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Sunrise
By Jessie CaveAn honest, tender-hearted and uproariously funny story from actress, comedian, writer and doodler Jessie Cave – with colour illustrations throughout.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
Sunset at the Villa Thalia
A funny and passionate play from the author of The Pride and The Faith Machine.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Superhoe
By Nicôle LeckyThe hit stage play behind the BAFTA-winning BBC TV drama series Mood, about a twenty-something who spends all her time on social media while dreaming of becoming a success.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Swallow
By Stef SmithPassionate, painful and playful, Stef Smith’s Swallow takes a long, hard look at the extremes of everyday life.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99A Table Tennis Play
By Sam SteinerA play about how everything and nothing changes as people bat a ball.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Teddy Ferrara
An insightful and revealing play, inspired by real events, which explores society's uncomfortable embrace of the outsider.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
Temple
By Steve WatersA fictional account of the 2011 Occupy London movement, set in the heart of a very British crisis – a crisis of conscience, a crisis of authority and a crisis of faith.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Goats
By Liwaa Yazji Translated by Katharine HallsA play about the impact of war on a small town in Syria, by a leading Syrian playwright and documentary film-maker.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Meat
A play about class, consent and transgressions buried in the past, set over the course of one winesoaked evening in a Dublin restaurant.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Testing the Echo
By David EdgarA timely, provocative and witty look at the campaign to redefine Britishness for a multicultural society.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
Thick As Thieves
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.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Thon Man Molière
By Liz LochheadThe story of the great comedian Molière - his scandalous marriage, his scurrilous plays and the irresistible creation of his infamous and celebrated satire Tartuffe.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99A Time to Reap
By Anna Wakulik Translated by Catherine GrosvenorA play that follows one woman from a Polish village to the bright lights of London, exploring the issue of abortion and the Catholic Church.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
Travelling Light
A funny and fascinating tribute to the Eastern European immigrants who became major players in Hollywood's golden age.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.
The Treatment
By Martin CrimpMartin Crimp's razor-sharp satire about a world in which people are products, movies are money and sex sells.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Twilight Song
By Kevin ElyotKevin Elyot's evocative final play, a hilarious and heartbreaking tale of one family's hidden liaisons over half a century.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99There is limited availability of this title. Please enquire before placing your order.Ebook£9.99£7.99Two Ladies
By Nancy HarrisA powerful drama about the first ladies of France and America, as their husbands clash over an international crisis.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Ugly Lies the Bone
An honest and funny play about a wounded veteran seeking rehabilitation through an experimental virtual reality therapy, from an award-winning American playwright.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Unknown Rivers
A poignant and life-affirming play about the extraordinary powers of female friendship.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99The Unmanageable Sisters
By Michel Tremblay Adapted by Deirdre KinahanA funny and furious new version of Michel Tremblay’s fêted Québécoise comedy, Les Belles-Soeurs.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Valhalla
By Paul MurphyJoint winner of the inaugural Theatre503 Playwriting Award, Valhalla depicts a world where the boundaries of scientific research and the endurance of human love are stretched to their limits.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Vassa
By Maxim Gorky Adapted by Mike BartlettA new adaptation by Mike Bartlett of Maxim Gorky's savagely funny play, premiered at the Almeida Theatre, London.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99The Veil
Set around a haunted house hemmed in by a restive, starving populace, The Veil weaves Ireland’s troubled colonial history into a transfixing story about the search for love, the transcendental and the circularity of time.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99Victoria's Knickers
By Josh AzouzAn 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.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99We Anchor in Hope
By Anna JordanA play about the end of an era as a London boozer closes its doors one final time.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99What Shadows
By Chris HannanA searing look at identity and immigration within a bitterly divided country.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99When the Crows Visit
A dark and thrilling play inspired by true events in modern-day India, exploring the themes of Ibsen's Ghosts and the cyclical nature of oppression.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99Add to basketEbook£9.99£7.99The White Devil (RSC version)
By John WebsterA violent tragedy, regarded as one of the great works of Jacobean theatre. Features the text edited for the 2014 RSC production, and introductions by key members of its creative team.
- Paperback
£9.99£7.99
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