As Nick Hern Books launches its new Multiplay Drama series – a great range of plays with large casts that are perfect for older teenagers and young adults to perform – series editor John O’Donovan explains why it's a boon for any group looking for an ambitious play to perform with roles for all the … Continue reading Big new plays for great big casts: the exciting new Multiplay Drama series
Amateur Theatre
Top 10 Most-Performed Plays of 2018
2018 saw the thirtieth anniversary of Nick Hern Books – and it was certainly a year to remember, with more plays published than in any previous year in the company's history, a shelf-load of awards, and the inaugural Amateur Theatre Fest in September. Plus, we licensed many brilliant productions of Nick Hern Books' plays to … Continue reading Top 10 Most-Performed Plays of 2018
Nick Hern Books at 30
This year, Nick Hern Books celebrated thirty years of theatre publishing. As the year draws to a close, we take a look at some of the things that have made it a year to remember... We published 100 new plays over the year, two-thirds of them by female writers. They included the exhilarating debut play … Continue reading Nick Hern Books at 30
Edinburgh Fringe Report 2018: Tackling the Fringe
Whether you're taking a show to the Fringe this year, planning on doing so in the future, or just going along for the ride, check out these four talented and intrepid amateur companies as they prepare to take on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe. Each of them has chosen to perform a play licensed by Nick … Continue reading Edinburgh Fringe Report 2018: Tackling the Fringe
Edinburgh Fringe Report 2017: Amateur companies taking on the Fringe
In our annual Edinburgh Fringe Report, we take a look at how amateur theatre companies fare on the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where they're in competition for audiences and ratings with more than 50,000 other performances taking place across the city over the month of August. And this year, the 70th anniversary of the Festival Fringe, … Continue reading Edinburgh Fringe Report 2017: Amateur companies taking on the Fringe
Amateur theatre: A vital contribution to UK theatre
Earlier this month, a large group of academics, writers, theatre-makers and individuals passionate about amateur theatre gathered at Royal Holloway University in London. They were there to discuss the findings of a 3-year-long research project into amateur theatre, Reflecting on Amateur Theatre Research, led by Royal Holloway and the Universities of Warwick and Exeter. Our own … Continue reading Amateur theatre: A vital contribution to UK theatre
Edinburgh Fringe Report 2016 Part 2: The Reckoning
The Edinburgh Fringe is over for another year, but how did our intrepid amateur companies get on performing plays licensed by Nick Hern Books? We hear from four of them as they recount the highs – and the lows – of mounting a production on the Fringe. (If you missed the first instalment, it's available … Continue reading Edinburgh Fringe Report 2016 Part 2: The Reckoning
Edinburgh Fringe Report 2016 Part 1: Final preparations
Getting ready for The Fringe? Our Edinburgh Fringe Report is back (you can still read last year's Report here) with six more amateur theatre companies – all of them performing plays licensed by Nick Hern Books – revealing the state of their play as they get ready to launch themselves on The Fringe... Holes by … Continue reading Edinburgh Fringe Report 2016 Part 1: Final preparations
Victoria Wood: ‘Giving Notes’
We were saddened by the death of Victoria Wood this week – she was a gleeful, mischievous presence on our screens for so many years, and will be sorely missed. Here's a reminder of her talent in her sketch included in the RSC's The Shakespeare Revue – appropriately enough as we commemorate the death of … Continue reading Victoria Wood: ‘Giving Notes’
‘Hockey sticks and navy knicks’: Kath Gotts on Crush: The Musical
When Kath Gotts and Maureen Chadwick started writing a musical about the pupils at an all-girls school rebelling against their tyrannical headmistress, they didn't know it would take decades to reach the stage. But when it finally opened in 2015, Crush was acclaimed as a hilarious blend of Malory Towers and St Trinian's – a family-friendly … Continue reading ‘Hockey sticks and navy knicks’: Kath Gotts on Crush: The Musical
The Prompt Book 