Each year, talented and passionate amateur-theatre groups around the British Isles and beyond pit their productions against each other in competitive one-act play festivals – all in pursuit of unforgettable memories, a high mark from the adjudicator, and maybe even a trophy... But how do these festivals work, and how can your group get involved? … Continue reading How amateur-theatre festivals work – and why your group should enter one!
Plays
‘We shall never see his like again’ – a tribute to Mike Bradwell
Mike Bradwell – who died earlier this month at the age of 77 – left an indelible mark on British theatre. During his long and illustrious career as a theatre director, he founded, worked with and ran a variety of leading companies and venues, and gave early chances to many young playwrights who have gone … Continue reading ‘We shall never see his like again’ – a tribute to Mike Bradwell
Discover the Most Performed Plays of 2024
Every year, we license thousands of amateur performances of NHB-published plays, helping amateur groups, schools, youth theatres and others create their own brilliant productions. With over 1,500 titles on our list, there's no shortage of exciting options! We know that proven, popular hits can serve as important inspiration when planning a season – so to … Continue reading Discover the Most Performed Plays of 2024
Discover the Most-Performed Plays of 2019
What a fantastic year 2019 was for NHB! We were shortlisted for an award at the IPG Independent Publishing Awards; celebrated awards success for loads of our authors including Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Antony Sher, Frances Poet and Lynn Nottage; launched our new series Multiplay Drama (which is up for a prize at the Music and Drama … Continue reading Discover the Most-Performed Plays of 2019
Edinburgh Fringe Report 2015 Part 2: The Final 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 three 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 2015 Part 2: The Final Reckoning
Girls centre stage: Lucy Kerbel on building a new canon of writing for young actors
Good roles for young female actors are in short supply, so Tonic Theatre set out to change that by commissioning a series of new plays with mainly or entirely female casts for schools and youth theatre groups to perform. As the first three plays in the Platform series are published by Nick Hern Books and … Continue reading Girls centre stage: Lucy Kerbel on building a new canon of writing for young actors
‘So tyrannous and rough in proof!’: Shakespeare and typos. By Nick de Somogyi.
Why didn't Shakespeare concern himself with the many inaccuracies in the printed editions of his works? Nick de Somogyi, editor of the Shakespeare Folios Series, hunts for clues and looks at the lasting consequences, as his new book Shakespeare on Theatre, a unique collection of Shakespeare's every reflection on the theatre, is published. In the … Continue reading ‘So tyrannous and rough in proof!’: Shakespeare and typos. By Nick de Somogyi.
Jez Butterworth’s JERUSALEM at St Paul’s
Art often imitates life, but it’s rare that a West End play gets taken up by a group of anti-capitalist protesters as the perfect encapsulation of their spirit of defiance. But this is just what has happened to Jez Butterworth’s Jerusalem, a play that is back in the West End with Mark Rylance once again … Continue reading Jez Butterworth’s JERUSALEM at St Paul’s
Spotlight: playwright CONOR McPHERSON
Playwright Conor McPherson – 'a writer who can make inarticulacy sound poetic' (Evening Standard) – returns to the theatre this month with the premiere of his new play The Veil at the National Theatre. We've published the playtext along with a striking new edition of his earliest works, McPherson Plays: One, which includes a new … Continue reading Spotlight: playwright CONOR McPHERSON
Spotlight: Headlong’s DECADE
As Decade, Headlong’s imaginative investigation of 9/11 and its legacy, opens in London, NHB Commissioning Editor Matt Applewhite considers a play publisher’s role in documenting the theatre of our times – and why it’s worth pulling out all the stops to do so. When, in 2009, Caryl Churchill wrote Seven Jewish Children, her short, sharp … Continue reading Spotlight: Headlong’s DECADE
The Prompt Book 