This month NHB publishes Lou Ramsden’s Hundreds and Thousands, the follow-up play to her critically acclaimed debut Breed (2010), for which she was shortlisted for the Critics' Circle Most Promising Playwright Award. Here, exclusively for the NHB blog, Lou spills the beans on what it's like for a playwright in those final days leading up … Continue reading Spotlight: HUNDREDS AND THOUSANDS at Soho Theatre
Author: nickhernbooks
Spotlight: LONDON VIA LAGOS – a festival of vibrant new plays linking Nigeria and the UK, at Oval House Theatre
The London via Lagos festival at Oval House Theatre in Kennington, running until 10 July, celebrates contemporary British Nigerian playwriting with two exciting new plays by Arinze Kene and Lydia Adetunji. Here, exclusively for the NHB blog, the authors tell us about what inspired them, and how they went about writing their plays. Arinze Kene: … Continue reading Spotlight: LONDON VIA LAGOS – a festival of vibrant new plays linking Nigeria and the UK, at Oval House Theatre
Spotlight: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the West End
This month we published the official tie-in edition to the West End production of Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing – starring David Tennant as Benedick and Catherine Tate as Beatrice. Directed by Josie Rourke (who'll shortly be moving to the Donmar Warehouse from her current job as Artistic Director of the Bush Theatre), the production … Continue reading Spotlight: MUCH ADO ABOUT NOTHING in the West End
Spotlight: HOME DEATH – a new play by Nell Dunn
Nell Dunn is a distinguished writer whose work includes the award-winning play Steaming, as well as several novels including Up the Junction, which was directed for TV by Ken Loach. Her latest play Home Death is based on moving true-life accounts of people dealing with the death of their loved ones at home. It was … Continue reading Spotlight: HOME DEATH – a new play by Nell Dunn
Introducing ‘Meet The Playwright’ – on Stage Talk TV!
This month sees the launch of Stage Talk, the first show on TV dedicated to amateur and community theatre. It's a sign of great confidence in grassroots theatre in the UK that a dedicated programme should appear just as many professional theatre companies are reeling from the shock of Arts Council cuts. 'Am Dram' has … Continue reading Introducing ‘Meet The Playwright’ – on Stage Talk TV!
Spotlight: CARDENIO at RSC
Gregory Doran has performed a masterful act of literary archaeology in bringing a lost Shakespeare play to the stage. Opening last night at the Swan Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon, Cardenio is set in the heat and dust of Andalusia in seventeenth-century Spain. But the history of the play is every bit as thrilling as the play … Continue reading Spotlight: CARDENIO at RSC
Spotlight: LONDON ROAD at the National Theatre
Playwright Alecky Blythe and composer Adam Cork have scored a tremendous success with their bold, innovative verbatim musical London Road, which opened at the National Theatre last week. But what was the genesis of this 'startling, magically original' (Evening Standard) new work? Alecky Blythe: I work using a technique originally created by Anna Deavere Smith, who … Continue reading Spotlight: LONDON ROAD at the National Theatre
TERENCE RATTIGAN special
As the plays of Terence Rattigan once again take centre stage during his centenary year, Dan Rebellato, academic, playwright and editor of the NHB Rattigan collection, argues that Rattigan has been unfairly cast as the writer of stuffy, conservative drama, and that his plays are consummate in their emotional power and sensitivity. How did I … Continue reading TERENCE RATTIGAN special
Ken Campbell: The True Spirit of a Prankster
Published today – April Fools' Day – is Ken Campbell: The Great Caper, Michael Coveney's biography of the one-man comic whirlwind who tore through the British theatre establishment using well-rehearsed anarchy and a genius for surreal comedy. Here, Coveney recalls Campbell's fondness for a good wheeze - including his notorious Royal Dickens Company hoax... If there’s … Continue reading Ken Campbell: The True Spirit of a Prankster
Spotlight: CHARGED at Soho Theatre
For over thirty years, Clean Break have used theatre for personal and political change, working with women whose lives have been affected by the criminal justice system. Last year, the company commissioned six of the most exciting female voices in British theatre to write about these women, and presented the plays at Soho Theatre under … Continue reading Spotlight: CHARGED at Soho Theatre
The Prompt Book 