So that was 2019, and what a year it's been 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, Lynn Nottage, Arinzé Kene, Phoebe Eclair-Powell, Joe White and Tearrance Arvelle Chisholm; launched our new series Multiplay Drama (which is up for a prize at the Music and Drama Education Awards), and of course published over one hundred fantastic new plays and theatre books.
And so as the year draws to a close, here's a quick peek at some of the exciting new plays we've got coming up in the New Year...
January kicks off in dark and brooding fashion, with Conor McPherson's new adaptation of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya in the West End, and Lucy Kirkwood's The Welkin, about murder and devilry in 18th-century Suffolk, premiering at the National Theatre.
Chris Bush reimagines Faust as a woman for Headlong at the Lyric Hammersmith, and the Donmar revive Caryl Churchill's chillingly prescient Far Away. We'll also be bringing you cracking new plays from Frantic Assembly, Hampstead Theatre, Eclipse Theatre and VAULT Festival - to name a few.
Look out for many more in our newsletters throughout 2020. And don't forget, you can now purchase a Nick Hern Books Playscript Subscription to keep you abreast of the very best new drama – and there's still time to order one for Christmas, full details below.
Finally, we'd like to thank all our authors, partners and readers for making 2019 such a wonderful year in theatreland.
Please note: our office is now closed for the festive break, and will reopen on Thursday 2 January 2020. Have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!
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Uncle Vanya
Anton Chekhov
adapt. Conor McPherson
Conor McPherson's stunning new adaptation of Uncle Vanya, full of tumultuous frustration, dark humour and hidden passions, premiering in the West End in January, directed by Ian Rickson and featuring Toby Jones and Richard Armitage.
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Far Away
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill's dazzling play about a world sliding into chaos, published in a new edition alongside the Donmar Warehouse production opening in February, with Lyndsey Turner directing a cast including Jessica Hynes.
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I Think We Are Alone
Sally Abbott
Sally Abbott's play about our fragility, our resilience and our need for love and forgiveness is both delicate and uplifting. It is premiered by Frantic Assembly from February, in a touring production co-directed by Kathy Burke and Scott Graham.
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The Haystack
Al Blyth
Al Blyth's play is an explosive espionage thriller that explores how we can live honestly and stay authentic when advances in cutting-edge technology outpace the law. It premieres at Hampstead Theatre in January.
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The Welkin
Lucy Kirkwood
Lucy Kirkwood's new play, set in rural Suffolk in 1759, where a young woman is sentenced to hang for a heinous murder, opens on the National Theatre's Lyttelton stage in January with James Macdonald directing a cast including Maxine Peake and Ria Zmitrowicz.
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Faustus: That Damned Woman
Chris Bush
Chris Bush reimagines the Faust myth to explore what we must sacrifice to achieve greatness, and the legacy that we leave behind. A Lyric Hammersmith and Headlong co-production, opening at the Lyric in January before touring.
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Flights & Sink: Two Plays
John O'Donovan
Two plays about contemporary life in Ireland from award-winning writer John O'Donovan, published alongside the premiere of Flights, a haunting, hilarious play about bereavement and breaking away from your past. Premiering in Ireland in January before transferring to London's Clapham Omnibus.
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The Gift
Janice Okoh
Janice Okoh's play is an outrageous take on imperialism, cross-racial adoption, and cultural appropriation, and is definitely not your regular tea party. It is premiered by Eclipse Theatre, touring the UK from January.
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Coming Soon: New collection of plays from VAULT Festival
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VAULT Festival 2020 gets underway next month (28 January–22 March), and Nick Hern Books will once again be publishing the pick of the new plays at London's biggest and most exciting arts festival.
Plays from VAULT 5 is available to pre-order now, and we're delighted to reveal that the volume will include:
- Heroes by Isabel Dixon
- Madame Ovary by Rosa Hesmondhalgh
- Second Home by Charlotte Chimuanya
- Something Awful by Tatty Hennessy
- Take Care by Zoë Templeman-Young and Sam McLaughlin
'A major London festival … showcasing new and rising talent' Independent on VAULT Festival
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Still searching for that elusive Christmas present for your theatre-loving friend or relative? Or just fancy treating yourself? Either way, take a look at our Playscript Subscriptions: the new way to keep up to date with the most exciting contemporary plays by today's top writers.
Each month we'll send you (or your chosen recipient) one newly published Nick Hern Books playscript selected by our expert team. It could be a major premiere from a big-name playwright, a timely new version of a classic, or a fresh and exciting work by a talented, up-and-coming writer – all hot off the press, and straight from the UK and Ireland's most renowned stages.
Nick Hern Books Playscript Subscriptions come in 6-Month or 12-Month packages. They're available for UK customers to purchase now – just in time for Christmas! – with the first plays due to go out in January 2020.
Plus, if you subscribe before 24 December, we'll enter you into a PRIZE DRAW to win twelve fantastic plays we published in 2019! More details here.
NB: Last order date for Playscript Subscriptions starting in January 2020 is 2pm on 24 December.
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