Search results for ""author nick"
Nick Hern Books Somewhere Out There You
'We are all the authors of our own love story.' Casey's new boyfriend Brett is handsome, romantic and devoted – a dream come true. He writes poetry! He makes quiche! For once in her life, Casey is in a relationship with a man who attends to her every whim and desire. But when her suspicious sister Cynthia starts digging into Brett's past, she threatens to take away the one good thing that's ever happened to Casey… Nancy Harris's play Somewhere Out There You is a romantic comedy with a twist, playfully unravelling the love stories we weave for ourselves and inviting us to question what compels us to tell them in the first place. It was first performed in 2023 at the Abbey Theatre, as part of Dublin Theatre Festival, directed by Wayne Jordan.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books The Improviser's Way: A Longform Workbook
An inspiring and interactive workbook to help you develop skills for longform improvisation, by one of the UK’s top improv performers and teachers. Structured as a twelve-week course, this book provides techniques, advice and exercises that can be done on your own or in groups – with activities to complete as you go – for learning faster and becoming (more) amazing at improvisation. It draws on the author’s own experience of performing and teaching improv around the world, with added gems of wisdom from key experts. Starting with the basics of improvisation, it moves on to explore areas of the craft such as rehearsals, character, editing, form and style; plus career advice including how to cope with bad gigs, jealousy, fear of missing out and your Inner Critic. The Improviser’s Way is ideal for improvisers at any level – from those new to improv entirely, through those familiar with shortform who are looking to extend their reach, to experienced longform performers and teachers looking to refresh their approach and embrace new ideas. It is also invaluable to anyone looking to discover more about this popular, thrillingly creative and empowering form of performance. By the end, you won’t just be a better improviser – you’ll be a better person!
£14.99
Nick Hern Books Fleabag: The Original Play (NHB Modern Plays)
The Fleabag bites back. A rip-roaring account of some sort of female living her sort of life. Phoebe Waller-Bridge's debut play is an outrageously funny monologue for a female performer. It premiered at the 2013 Edinburgh Festival Fringe, performed by Phoebe herself, before transferring to Soho Theatre, London, for several successful runs, followed by a UK tour. It won a Fringe First Award in Edinburgh, the Most Promising New Playwright and Best Female Performance at the Off West End Theatre Awards, The Stage Award for Best Solo Performer and the Critics' Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright. It received a Special Commendation in the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and was nominated for the Olivier Award for Outstanding Achievement in an Affiliate Theatre. In 2016 it was turned into a wildly successful and 'utterly riveting' (Guardian) BBC television series. This edition also features an introduction by the author.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Long Day's Journey into Night
A true modern classic from one of the twentieth century's most significant writers, Long Day's Journey into Night is an intensely autobiographical, magnificently tragic portrait of the author's own family - a play so acutely personal that he insisted it was not published until after his death. One single day in the Tyrones' Connecticut home. James Tyrone Snr is a miser, a talented actor who even squanders his talent in an undemanding role; eldest son Jamie is an affable, whoremongering alcoholic and confirmed ne'er-do well; youngest son Edmund is poetic, sensitive, suffering from a respiratory condition and deep-seated disillusionment; and their mother Mary, living in a haze of self-delusion and morphine addiction. Existing together under this roof, and the profound weight of the past, they subtly tear one another apart, shred by shred. 'Set in 1912, the year of O'Neill's own attempted suicide, it is an attempt to understand himself and those to whom he was irrevocably tied by fate and by love. It is the finest and most powerful play to have come out of America' Christopher Bigsby Eugene O'Neill's play Long Day's Journey into Night was written in 1939-41, and first published in 1956 (after O'Neill's death in 1953). It was first performed at the Royal Dramatic Theatre, Stockholm, in February 1956, and had its first American production at Helen Hayes Theater, New York, in November that year. It won the Tony Award for Best Play, and O'Neill was posthumously awarded the 1957 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. This edition includes a full introduction, biographical sketch and chronology.
£9.20
Nick Hern Books Caryl Churchill Plays: Five
In this collection of plays from one of our finest dramatists, Caryl Churchill demonstrates her remarkable ability to find new forms to express profound truths about the world we live in. Complete with a new introduction by the author, this volume contains: Seven Jewish Children (Royal Court Theatre, London, 2009): a short play about seven families wondering how to protect their children, written at the time of the bombing of Gaza by Israel in 2008–9. Love and Information (Royal Court, 2012): a fast-moving kaleidoscope in which more than a hundred characters try to make sense of what they know. Ding Dong the Wicked (Royal Court, 2012): two families on opposite sides of a war, locked in identical hatred. Here We Go (National Theatre, 2015): a play about dying and being dead. Escaped Alone (Royal Court, 2016): three old friends and an unexpected neighbour have tea in a sunny back yard, and face catastrophes. Pigs and Dogs (Royal Court, 2016): a look at how colonialism crushed the fluidity of sexuality in Africa and brought a new intolerance, as shown in the Ugandan Anti-Homosexuality Act of 2014. Also included are three previously unpublished short plays, each written in response to political events: War and Peace Gaza Piece (2014), Tickets are Now On Sale (2015) and Beautiful Eyes (2017). 'The wit, invention and structural ingenuity of Churchill's work are remarkable… she never does anything twice' Telegraph 'The most dazzlingly inventive living dramatist in the English language' New York Times
£15.29
Nick Hern Books Run, Rebel
'I am strength I am power I am courage I am revolution I am Amber Rai' Amber is trapped – by her family's rules and expectations, and by her own fears. But on the running track she feels free. As her body speeds up, the world slows down. And the tangled, mixed-up words in her head start to make sense... It's time to start a revolution: for her mother, for her sister, for herself. Run, Amber. Run. Manjeet Mann's multi-award-winning verse novel, Run, Rebel, about a young woman beginning to take control of her life, was shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal 2021 and won the CILIP Carnegie Shadowers Choice Award, a UKLA Book Award, a Diverse Book Award and the Sheffield Children's Book Award. This fast-paced, mesmerising stage version, adapted by the author, was first produced in 2023 by Pilot Theatre, with Mercury Theatre, Colchester, Belgrade Theatre Coventry, Derby Theatre and York Theatre Royal. This edition also contains a range of teaching materials and resources designed to help educators bring the play to life for their students. 'Mann's brilliant, coruscating verse novel lays out the anatomy of Amber's revolution, and the tentative first flowerings of hope and change' Guardian
£10.99
Nick Hern Books How Plays Work
In How Plays Work, distinguished playwright David Edgar examines the mechanisms and techniques which dramatists throughout the ages have employed to structure their plays and to express their meaning. Written for playwrights and playgoers alike, Edgar's analysis starts with the building blocks of whole plays – plot, character-creation, genre and structure – and moves on to scenes and devices. He shows how plays share a common architecture without which the uniqueness of their authors' vision would be invisible. How Plays Work is both a masterclass for playwrights and playmakers and a fascinating guide to the anatomy of drama. In this revised edition, Edgar brings the book right up to date with analyses of many recent plays, as well as explorations of emerging genres and new innovations in playwriting practice. 'A brilliantly illuminating, bang-up-to-date, unmissable read' April De Angelis 'A book of real theoretical heft written by a major working playwright' Steve Waters 'An essential accompaniment for anyone fascinated by the craft of dramatic storytelling' John Yorke 'Every theatremaker should read this book' Pippa Hill, Literary Manager, Royal Shakespeare Company 'Even if you've read the book before, it demands to be reread' Simon Callow 'Combines theoretical acumen with the assured know-how of a working dramatist' Terry Eagleton, Times Literary Supplement
£14.99
Nick Hern Books Other People's Shoes: Thoughts on Acting
Harriet Walter's wonderfully practical - and personal - introduction to acting. 'Acting is what I do with who I am', writes Harriet Walter. And in this book she takes us step by step through the processes involved in performance. Each step of the way is illuminated with brilliantly precise examples from her own career. So we are introduced to the Workshop, the Rehearsal, and the Roots and Pathways into a role. Then follows the main meat of the book: six Keys to the Development and Exploration of character. The closing section deals with Performance on stage and screen. Every insight, every suggestion is firmly rooted in the author's own experience. Harriet Walter's book is full of unparalleled insights into the everyday working life of an actor, and into quite how much hard work is needed before they can convincingly put themselves in other people's shoes. 'My advice to a young actor: read this book' Richard Eyre
£14.99
Nick Hern Books Rafta, Rafta...
A hugely warm-hearted, comic tale of close-knit Indian family life in England, by the author of East is East. The wedding feast is over and the bridegroom's father is dancing the bhangra, but the groom himself is curiously reluctant to make his way to the bedroom... In fact he's so woefully inhibited by the proximity of his parents and his brother's childish pranks that his beautiful virgin bride remains just that. Six weeks later, the whole family start to panic. But 'Rafta, rafta...' or 'All in good time'! Based on Bill Naughton's 1963 play All in Good Time, Ayub Khan Din's play Rafta, Rafta... was first performed at the National Theatre, London, in the Lyttelton auditorium in April 2007, directed by Nicholas Hytner. It won Best New Comedy at the 2008 Olivier Awards. Rafta, Rafta... was later adapted for the big screen with the title All in Good Time.
£8.99
Nick Hern Books I Am Shakespeare
A fascinating, witty and characteristically exuberant dramatic exploration of the Shakespeare authorship debate. Is it possible that the son of an illiterate tradesman, from a small market town in Warwickshire, could have written the greatest dramatic works the world has ever seen? It’s a question that has puzzled scholars, theatre practitioners and theatregoers for many years. The philosopher, Francis Bacon; the Earl of Oxford, Edward de Vere; and Mary Sidney, Countess of Pembroke: all of them have been put forward as the real author of the plays. But why would they hide behind an anonymous actor? Who was the real Bard of Stratford? Why should we care? Mark Rylance is one of a number of leading actors who seriously question the idea that William Shakespeare was the man behind the thirty-seven plays that have moved, inspired and amazed generations. First performed at the Minerva Theatre, Chichester, in 2007, and subsequently on tour, Rylance’s provocative play introduces us to four candidates and their respective claims – whilst asking fundamental questions about what makes a genius, and why it all matters anyway.
£10.99
T Adler,US Dora Lives: The Authorized Story Of Miki Dora
The definitive record of the surfing iconoclast who became an icon The surfing iconoclast who became an icon, Miki Dora was the epitome of 1960s beach culture. His dark good looks were the envy of Malibu. His talent earned him trophies (which he disdained) and the nickname “Da Cat.” And in the end, when he didn't like the commercial direction of the sport he helped define, he turned his back on the beach, wandered the world, served time in jail, and, finally in 2002, suffering from pancreatic cancer returned to his father's house in Montecito, California to die at age 67. A Malibu graffiti that appeared during his years on the road sums up his role in the surfing imagination and still holds true: “Dora Lives.” Years in the making and compiled with the cooperation of Dora while he was alive and his family after his death, Dora Lives is the definitive record of the legend. Transcribed interviews with Dora and texts by former Surfer magazine editor Drew Kampion and writer C.R. Stecyk are combined with nearly 100 photos and stills from photographers, filmmakers, and Dora's personal albums. The story starts out in Budapest, Hungary, where Miklos Dora was born in 1934, follows the child émigré to Hollywood High (except when the surf was up), and finds him at the center of the post-Gidget surf boom of the 60s. At that time, Dora stunt-doubled in a few films and competed when he felt like it, but mostly he embraced the hedonist milieu and burnished his antihero legend, culminating in a mid-wave mooning of the judges at the 1967 Malibu Invitational. Shortly after, he left for points (and point breaks) abroad in France, Indonesia, Australia and Madagascar until 2001, when he returned to the West Coast to die.
£36.00
Nick Hern Books Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons
'Let's just talk until it goes.' The average person will speak 123,205,750 words in a lifetime. But what if there were a limit? Oliver and Bernadette are about to find out. Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons Lemons is a tender and funny rom-com about what we say, how we say it, and what happens when we can't say anything any more. This special edition of Sam Steiner's hilarious and provocative play – featuring a revised text, plus an introduction by the author – was published alongside a major revival in 2023 performed at the Harold Pinter Theatre in London's West End, as well as at Manchester Opera House and Theatre Royal Brighton. It was directed by Josie Rourke and starred Jenna Coleman and Aidan Turner. The play was first performed at Warwick Arts Centre in 2015, and won three Judges' Awards at the National Student Drama Festival before appearing at Latitude Festival, Camden People's Theatre in London, and several runs at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, where it was a hit with both audiences and critics. It has since been performed around the world, is widely studied and has been translated into multiple languages.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Urinetown: The Musical
In a Gotham-like city, a depletion of the Earth's water supply has led to a government-enforced ban on private toilets. The privilege to pee is regulated by a single malevolent company that profits by charging for one of humanity's most basic needs. From amongst the people, a hero has risen who will lead them to freedom. A grand, mischievous love letter to the conventions of musical theatre, Urinetown depicts a world wracked by ecological disaster, caught in the throes of corporate greed, and ultimately toppled by the best of intentions. Praised by critics for reinvigorating the contemporary musical, Urinetown is one of the most distinctive, intelligent and jubilant theatrical experiences of the twenty-first century. It opened at New York City's Fringe Festival, then transferred to Broadway in September 2001, winning three Tony Awards, including Best Book of a Musical. Urinetown received its UK premiere at the St James Theatre, London, in February 2014, later transferring to the Apollo Theatre in September, in a production directed by Jamie Lloyd. This edition includes a preface by playwright David Auburn and extensive introductions by each of the authors.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Pressure
An intense real-life thriller centred around the most important weather forecast in the history of warfare. June 1944. One man's decision is about to change the course of history. Everything is in place for the biggest invasion ever known in Europe – D-Day. One last crucial question remains: will the weather be right on the day? Problematically there are two opposing forecasts. American celebrity weatherman Colonel Krick predicts sunshine, while Scot Dr James Stagg, Chief Meteorological Officer for the Allied Forces, forecasts a storm. As the world watches and waits, General Eisenhower, Allied Supreme Commander, must decide which of these bitter antagonists to trust. The decision will not only seal the fates of thousands of men, but could win or lose the entire war. An extraordinary and little-known true story, David Haig's play thrillingly explores the responsibilities of leadership, the challenges of prophecy and the personal toll of taking a stand. Pressure premiered at the Royal Lyceum Theatre, Edinburgh, in May 2014 before transferring to Chichester Festival Theatre, in a production directed by John Dove, with the author playing James Stagg.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Christmas Carol: A Fairy Tale
Things are going to be different. Very different... 1838, London. Jacob Marley is dead. And so is Ebenezer Scrooge... In this reinvention of the timeless classic, Ebenezer has died and his sister Fan has inherited his money-lending business. She rapidly becomes notorious as the most monstrous miser ever known, a legendary misanthrope, lonely, and despised by all who cross her path. This year, on Christmas Eve, Fan Scrooge will be haunted by three spirits. They want her to change. But will she? Charles Dickens's traditional story was adapted for the stage by renowned author Piers Torday, and came to life in the Dickensian environment of the world's oldest-surviving music hall, Wilton's Music Hall, London, in 2019. It will prove a festive gift for amateur theatre companies seeking an original, female-led version with lashings of goodwill to all men - and women. Piers Torday's bestselling series for children, The Last Wild trilogy, has been sold all over the world, was nominated for the Waterstone's Children Book Award, and won the Guardian's Children's Fiction Prize. He also adapted The Box of Delights for Wilton's.
£9.99
Nick Hern Books Exploring Shakespeare: A Director's Notes from the Rehearsal Room
'Theatre is the greatest of collaborative art forms, and Shakespeare its greatest exponent: he used the form better than anyone else ever has to speak truth about the world.' In Exploring Shakespeare, acclaimed theatre director Bill Alexander takes us inside the rehearsal room to reveal – in unprecedented and captivating detail – exactly what happens there. He examines the key relationship between the actors and the director, how they work together to bring Shakespeare's vision to life, and how choices are made that will shape every aspect of the play in production. Full of acute observations and perceptions drawn from a long and brilliant career, the book covers the essential aspects of any Shakespeare production, from understanding the world of the play, to preparing and cutting the text, deciding on costumes and set design, handling soliloquies, and considering character and backstory. There are detailed studies of eight plays spanning the full length and breadth of the Shakespearean canon, from Titus Andronicus and The Shrew to The Tempest, via Othello, Hamlet, Lear, The Merchant of Venice and Twelfth Night. Alexander also provides first-hand case studies of three of his own productions, including his famous Richard III starring Antony Sher. Personal, forthright, and full of pragmatic advice, Exploring Shakespeare is a masterclass for directors and actors, and a fascinating insight for anyone interested in Shakespeare. Bill Alexander was an Associate Director of the Royal Shakespeare Company, and then Artistic Director of Birmingham Rep. His landmark productions include Richard III and The Merry Wives of Windsor (both Olivier Award-winners), The Merchant of Venice, The Taming of the Shrew, Titus Andronicus and King Lear with Corin Redgrave. 'Bill Alexander is a brilliant director, whose work has powerfully shaped my understanding of Shakespeare's plays, Richard III most of all' James Shapiro, author of 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare
£15.29
Nick Hern Books Drama Menu: Second Helpings: Another 160 Tasty Theatre Games
160 all-new games and exercises from the author of the bestselling companion for drama teachers and workshop leaders, offering more than one million unique and tasty combinations, ready to be put into action! Simply make a selection from each of the four complementary courses, and your whole drama session will come to life with clarity, intensity and focus: Appetisers are fast-paced warm-up exercises to energise and enthuse; Starters are the intermediary course to challenge and kickstart creativity; Main Courses provide the central part of the session, culminating in a final performance piece; Desserts are there for when you have space at the end of your session for something sweet. Every exercise has been devised, tested and selected for its ability to ignite creativity and develop the performing potential of each player. There's also a downloadable Resource Pack stuffed with a huge range of new stimuli to engage your students and encourage deeper participation. Drama Menu: Second Helpings has everything you need to spice up your sessions with a variety of new challenges that will invigorate and inspire your students, and ensure that every session is fresh, dynamic and relevant. Bon appétit! Praise for Drama Menu: 'An easily accessible, flexible and creative resource useful for any dramatic platform. A must-have for all teachers wanting to give their students the very best!' Word Matters 'Easy to navigate... definitely something for everyone... a really useful collection' Teaching Drama 'Ideal... will provide a great deal of varied and inspiring material for drama sessions' Drama Resource 'Unbelievably useful... every reader will find something new and of absolute hands-on usefulness... Drama Menu will become your companion' ReviewsGate.com
£15.29
Nick Hern Books Jack Thorne Plays: One
Acclaimed for his screenplays for TV dramas including Skins, Shameless, The Fades, This is England '86/'88/'90 and Glue, Jack Thorne first emerged as a writer of unflinching, compassionate and often challenging plays for the stage. Described as a ‘powerful voice for Britain’s youth’ (Independent), he remains one of the most distinctive talents working in theatre today and was chosen by JK Rowling to write the script for Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. This collection, with a revealing introduction by the author, covers a period of intense creativity – beginning with When You Cure Me (Bush Theatre, 2005), a painful – and painfully funny – play about being very young and in love, and coping with serious illness at the same time. ‘One of the year’s finest pieces of new writing’ Evening Standard In the monologue play Stacy (Arcola Theatre, 2007), twenty-something Rob tells the story of a confusing couple of days in which everything in his life seems to have gone wrong. ‘A pin-sharp, brilliant piece of work’ Time Out 2nd May 1997 (Bush Theatre, 2009) distils all the euphoria and despair of New Labour’s landslide electoral victory into three stories told with ‘quiet profundity and verve’ (Telegraph), while Bunny (Edinburgh Fringe, 2010) is a white-knuckle ride through the streets of contemporary Britain, written for a solo female performer. ‘Terrific’ Scotsman Red Car, Blue Car is a heartbreaking short play about guilt, grief and responsibility, written for and performed at the Bush in 2011. Finally, Mydidae (Soho Theatre, 2012), a two-hander set entirely in a bathroom, is an electrifyingly intimate account of the darker side of love which hits audiences ‘like a punch in the gut’ (Whatsonstage.com) 'An absolutely top-class playwright' JK Rowling
£18.89
Nick Hern Books Gilt
Three of Scotland's top playwrights have combined forces on a single play.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books Women Centre Stage: Eight Short Plays By and About Women
Eight short plays, commissioned and developed as part of the Women Centre Stage Festival, that together demonstrate the range, depth and richness of women's writing for the stage. Selected by Sue Parrish, Artistic Director of Sphinx Theatre, these plays offer a wide variety of rewarding roles for women, and are perfect for schools, youth groups and theatre companies to perform. How to Not Sink by Georgia Christou looks at duty, love and dependency across three generations of women. In Wilderness by April De Angelis, a patient and her psychiatrist head into the wilderness to find out how sane any of us really are. In Chloe Todd Fordham’s The Nightclub, three very different women at a gay nightclub in Orlando are caught up in a terrifying hate crime. Fucking Feminists by Rose Lewenstein is a fiercely funny investigation of what feminism means, and what it has become. Winsome Pinnock’s Tituba is a one-woman show about Tituba Indian, the enslaved woman who played a central role in the seventeenth-century Salem Witch Trials. In The Road to Huntsville by Stephanie Ridings, a writer researching women who fall in love with men on death row finds herself crossing the line. White Lead by Jessica Siân explores the expectations and responsibilities of being an artist and a woman. In What is the Custom of Your Grief? by Timberlake Wertenbaker, an English schoolgirl whose brother has been killed on active duty in Afghanistan is befriended online by an Afghan girl. Sphinx Theatre has been at the vanguard of promoting, advocating and inspiring women in the arts through productions, conferences and research for more than forty years.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books The Bone Sparrow
Subhi is a refugee. Born in an Australian permanent detention centre after his mother fled the violence of a distant homeland, life behind the fences is all he's ever known. Now his imagination is pushing at the limits of his world. One day, Jimmie appears on the other side of the fence, bringing a notebook written by the mother she lost. Unable to read it, she relies on Subhi to unravel her own family's mysterious and moving history. Together, Subhi and Jimmie must find a way to freedom, and they must be braver than they've ever been before... The Bone Sparrow, Zana Fraillon's powerful and deeply moving novel about the displacement and treatment of refugees and sanctuary seekers, has been widely read and studied around the world since its publication in 2017. This enthralling stage adaptation by award-winning Australian playwright S. Shakthidharan was first produced on a UK tour in 2022 by Pilot Theatre with York Theatre Royal, Derby Theatre, Belgrade Theatre, Coventry, and Mercury Theatre Colchester. Also included is a range of teaching materials and resources designed to help educators bring the play to life for their students. Praise for the novel, The Bone Sparrow: 'With an affecting and distinctive narrative voice... [Zana Fraillon] builds a convincing and complete world. Moving and memorable, The Bone Sparrow deserves to be read by all who care about our common humanity' Guardian 'A heartrending tale about how our stories make us, and also an angry polemic, vividly convincing in its detailed description of what it means for your home to be a tent in the dust behind a guarded fence' Sunday Times 'This is a tragic, beautifully crafted and wonderful book whose chirpy, stoic hero shames us all' Independent Winner of the Amnesty CILIP Honour Award Shortlisted for the Carnegie Award and the Guardian Children's Fiction Prize
£12.99
Nick Hern Books A Doll's House
Drama Classics: The World's Great Plays at a Great Little Price Henrik Ibsen's revolutionary play about a woman's awakening to her need for a life of her own. A Doll's House was premiered at the Royal Theatre in Copenhagen, Denmark, in December 1879. This English version of A Doll's House is translated and introduced by Kenneth McLeish.
£6.29
Nick Hern Books Sweeney Todd
The gruesomely fascinating musical about the 'Demon Barber of Fleet Street', one of Sondheim's greatest hits. From the writing partnership behind A Little Night Music. Victim of a gross injustice that robbed him of his wife and child, Sweeney Todd sets about exacting a terrible revenge on society: slitting the throats of the customers who visit his barbershop. But things are getting complicated – a romance has developed with Mrs Lovett, the lady who runs the pie shop next door, and the disappearances are starting to cause concern. With the bodies piling up, Sweeney Todd hits upon a novel idea, and starts passing on his 'patrons' to his homely neighbour... Meat pie, anyone? Stephen Sondheim and Hugh Wheeler's musical Sweeney Todd opened on Broadway in 1979 and in the West End in 1980. It won the Tony Award for Best Musical and Olivier Award for Best New Musical. It has since had numerous revivals as well as a film adaptation.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books Nora: A Doll's House (NHB Modern Plays)
'You've lies in the whites of your eyes, Nora. What have you done...?' Nora is the perfect wife and mother. She is dutiful, beautiful and everything is always in its right place. But when a secret from her past comes back to haunt her, her life rapidly unravels. Over the course of three days, Nora must fight to protect herself and her family or risk losing everything. Henrik Ibsen's brutal portrayal of womanhood caused outrage when it was first performed in 1879. This bold new version by Stef Smith reframes the drama in three different time periods. The fight for women's suffrage, the Swinging Sixties and the modern day intertwine in this urgent, poetic play that asks how far have we really come in the past hundred years? Nora : A Doll's House was first produced by the Citizens Theatre, Glasgow, in 2019, at Tramway, Glasgow. A new production opened at the Young Vic, London, in February 2020. It was a finalist for the 2020 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, awarded annually to celebrate women who have written works of outstanding quality for the English-speaking theatre. 'A radical, stunning reworking which thrums with relevance and power... a wordsmith at the top of her poetic game... a classic play reinvented for our time' - BritishTheatre.com 'An intense, ambitious survey of women's shifting roles, which amplifies each step in Ibsen's elegantly crafted story, as though Nora's stamping through a cathedral in Doc Martens... Smith's ingenious dialogue makes what could be massively complicated feel simple and legible' - Time Out 'Smith's update is smart and thoughtful, balancing a sense of feminist history and activism with the tightness of a thriller and some rich personal drama' - The Stage 'Stef Smith's excellent adaptation... a provocation infused with Ibsen's radical spirit' - Guardian 'A beautiful and explosively significant piece of theatre' - Scotsman
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Company: The Complete Revised Book and Lyrics
It's Bobbie's thirty-fifth birthday party, and all her friends are wondering why she isn't married. Why can't she find the right man, settle down and start a family? A breakthrough on Broadway in 1970, Company is Stephen Sondheim and George Furth's legendary musical comedy about life, love and loneliness, featuring some of Sondheim's most iconic songs including 'Company', 'You Could Drive a Person Crazy', 'The Ladies Who Lunch', 'Side by Side' and 'Being Alive'. The acclaimed West End revival in 2018 was conceived and directed by award-winning director Marianne Elliott and produced by Elliott & Harper Productions. Reimagining the musical by switching the gender of several characters, including the protagonist Bobbie, played by Rosalie Craig, the production also starred Patti LuPone, Mel Giedroyc and Jonathan Bailey. It won the Peter Hepple Award for Best Musical at the 2018 Critics' Circle Theatre Awards. This edition features the complete revised book and lyrics for the production, colour production photographs, and an introduction by Sondheim's biographer David Benedict.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Vernon God Little
A darkly riotous, superbly fast-talking adventure, adapted from the Booker Prize-winning novel. Vernon Little is fifteen years old and lives with his mother in Martirio, a flea-bitten Texan town. His best friend just massacred sixteen of their classmates before killing himself. The town wants vengeance and turns its sights on Vernon, who is arrested at the start of the story. Tanya Ronder's stage adaptation of DBC Pierre's Booker Prizewinning novel Vernon God Little was first performed at the Young Vic, London, in 2007, when it was nominated for the Olivier Award for Best New Play. Rufus Norris's production was revived in 2011, in this revised version, as the centrepiece of the Young Vic's celebratory fortieth anniversary season.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Jeeves & Wooster in 'Perfect Nonsense'
An inventive, fast-paced comedy featuring P.G. Wodehouse’s iconic double act. Winner of the 2014 Olivier Award for Best New Comedy. When a country house weekend takes a turn for the worse, Bertie Wooster is unwittingly called on to play matchmaker – reconciling the affections of his host’s drippy daughter Madeline Bassett with his newt-fancying acquaintance Gussie Fink-Nottle. If Bertie, ably assisted by the ever-dependable Jeeves, can’t pull off the wedding of the season he’ll be forced to abandon his cherished bachelor status and marry the ghastly girl himself! Based on P.G. Wodehouse’s delightfully bonkers stories, especially The Code of the Woosters, the Goodale Brothers’ dramatisation premiered at the Duke of York's Theatre, West End, in November 2013, prior to a UK tour. Written for a cast of three, who play multiple roles, this adaptation will suit any theatre company or drama group looking for a comic play to perform.
£11.99
Nick Hern Books The Secret Garden
When orphaned Mary Lennox comes to live at her uncle's great house on the Yorkshire Moors, she finds it full of secrets. Left to make her own entertainment, Mary stumbles upon a garden, overgrown and locked for years. A forbidden garden. Finding her way inside, with the help of a friendly robin, Mary begins to feel a connection to the house and its inhabitants. Then, one night, in one of the house's many rooms, she hears the sound of crying... Frances Hodgson Burnett's delightful and enduring tale celebrates the power of transformation and healing through nature. Elizabeth Newman's magical adaptation was premiered at Pitlochry Festival Theatre's open-air amphitheatre in 2023, where Newman is Artistic Director. This version will appeal to other professional and amateur companies looking for a much-loved classic that can be easily staged in theatres, outdoor venues – and gardens.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books The Excellent Audition Guide
An engaging, upbeat guide for any student thinking of applying to drama school. If you're thinking of applying to drama school, The Excellent Audition Guide will give you everything you need to prepare well and perform your audition to the best of your ability. Experienced actor, director and drama teacher Andy Johnson leads you through every step of the application process: Researching drama schools Writing personal statements and CVs Choosing and working on your speeches and songs Brushing up technical and vocal skills And, of course: How to tackle the auditions themselves by being true to yourself and making fear your friend A reassuring, encouraging 'how to' book that demystifies an often scary-looking process, The Excellent Audition Guide is ideal not just for applicants themselves, but also for parents, teachers and careers advisors looking to help them fulfill their acting ambitions. 'Smart, dynamic and inspiring, this is an invaluable book for anyone thinking of trying for drama school' Michael Simkins 'There's only one book in the world I would read about getting into drama school and doing good auditions. It's this one.' Vanessa Kirby (Great Expectations, Labyrinth, Three Sisters, Jupiter Ascending) 'This book is accurate and beautifully concise. I wish Andy's written wisdom had been with me when I was applying to drama school.' Freddie Fox (Guildhall School of Music and Drama, The Judas Kiss, Hay Fever, The Mystery of Edwin Drood)
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Tiger Country
'Do you know what it’s like to be the person who’s actually sticking the knife in here? Or here? You stick a knife in close to an artery, boy do you know it. Then you’re in tiger country.' Nina Raine's Tiger Country is a hospital play that follows a tangle of doctors and nurses in a busy London hospital. Professionalism and prejudice, turbulent staff romances, ambition and failure collide in this swirling, action-packed drama about an overburdened health service that we all depend on and the dedicated individuals that keep it going. 'Tiger country' is where animal instinct stirs and an irrefutable eye opens. Where we make eye contact with the unknown. Tiger Country was premiered at Hampstead Theatre in 2011 and, following its sell-out run, was revived there in 2014.
£13.99
Nick Hern Books Whipping It Up
A quick-witted satirical farce set in the Whips' office at Westminster. It's a week before Christmas, and the new Tory government is facing dissent over its latest Bill. With a majority of only three, the Whips' office is out in full force, and they'll stop at nothing to keep the strays in line. But they're in for a long night: boy scouts are rioting in Whitehall, the PM's golfing with the President, five Tory rebels are on the loose and the Chief Whip's playing at Santa – could this be the beginnings of a leadership challenge? Steve Thompson's play Whipping It Up is a fast-moving switchback of a comedy, with more twists and double-bluffs than a poker game between conmen. It was first staged at the Bush Theatre, London, in November 2006, in a production starring Richard Wilson. It transferred to the West End in March 2007.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books Beyond Stanislavsky: The Psycho-Physical Approach to Actor Training
A guide to Psycho-Physical Acting, complete with games and exercises. When Stanislavsky died, he was working on a new system, Psycho-Physical Acting. Previously he had taught that truthful performance can only spring from the actor's imagination (the Method). Late in life, Stanislavsky realised that physical actions can induce emotions just as much as the other way round. Though well-known - and much taught - in Russia, Psycho-Physical Acting is in its infancy in the West. Bella Merlin has studied under three of the best teachers in Russia; this book is the fruit of her time there. 'This is a book which is vital both to practitioners and to all serious students of the theatre' Max Stafford-Clark 'A seminal book for today... an outstandingly lucid account... essential reading' Simon Callow
£12.99
Nick Hern Books The Deep Blue Sea
Written in the early fifties when Rattigan was at the height of his powers, The Deep Blue Sea is a powerful account of lives blighted by love - or the lack of it. The play opens with the failed suicide of Hester Collyer (Peggy Ashcroft in the first production), who has deserted her husband for the raffish charms of an ex-fighter pilot. Terence Rattigan's The Deep Blue Sea was first performed at the Duchess Theatre in the West End in March 1952. This edition includes an authoritative introduction, biographical sketch and chronology. 'Few dramatists of this century have written with more understanding of the human heart than Terence Rattigan' Michael Billington
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Disco Pigs & Sucking Dublin
Disco Pigs is the award-winning play about two warped teenagers that confirmed Enda Walsh's place in the forefront of young Irish dramatists and was filmed in 2001 with Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy. Pig and Runt are two 17-year-olds who share everything: birthday, language, worldview - and that moment when pop songs and life-changing orgasms flash by and last forever. Disco Pigs was first performed by Corcadorca Theatre Company at the Triskel Arts Centre, Cork, in September 1996, and subsequently at the 1996 Dublin Theatre Festival. It received its UK premiere at the Traverse Theatre, Edinburgh, in August 1997, before transferring to the Bush Theatre, London, in September 1997, and then on international tour. It won the Stewart Parker Prize for the best Irish debut play and the George Devine Award in 1997. Also included in this volume is Sucking Dublin, a fierce and uncompromising short play about a group of five individuals tormented by a rape in a claustrophobic, drug-infested Dublin. Sucking Dublin was first performed by the Outreach Department of the Abbey Theatre at Basin Lane Youth Reach Centre in Dublin in 1997. It also played at the Samuel Beckett Theatre in Trinity College, Dublin, from 4 November 1997.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Learning Your Lines: The Compact Guide
This accessible, systematic guide will teach you how to memorise your lines quickly and effectively, and let go of the fear of forgetting them – helping you build confidence and focus, and reducing anxiety and stress around auditions, rehearsal and performance. Inside, you’ll find dozens of tips, tricks and techniques such as Memory Palaces, Mental Maps, Creative Memorisation, Visual Cues and many more, along with exercises and examples to illustrate how they work in practice. Discover how to harness these tools to strengthen your memory, and develop a personalised line-learning strategy that works for you and your acting process – one that is easier, faster and more enjoyable. The Compact Guides are pocket-sized introductions for actors and theatremakers, each tackling a key topic in a clear and comprehensive way. Written by industry professionals with extensive hands-on experience of their subject, they provide you with maximum information in minimum time.
£8.99
Nick Hern Books The Maladies
'I'm tired of living in a world that's not mine.' 1508. France. A woman dances compulsively – and soon hundreds join her. 1962. Tanzania. A schoolgirl's laughing fit spreads from village to village. 2011. USA. Cheerleaders are overcome by uncontrollable twitching. 2023. London. A group of women suddenly lose the ability to speak – and no one can figure out why. The team at an all-female podcast decide to investigate and end up on a journey of discovery, uncovering more than they bargained for. The Maladies by Carmen Nasr is a powerful, provocative play, offering rich material for schools, colleges and youth theatres, particularly those looking for leading roles for young women. It was devised with the Almeida Young Company, directed by Yasmin Hafesji, and first performed at The Yard Theatre, London, in April 2022.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books 300 Thoughts for Theatremakers: A Manifesto for the Twenty-First-Century Theatremaker
'The future of theatre will belong to the maverick minds who possess the skills to mix things up and who have enough tools in their box to trick the game.' This is a practical, grassroots, self-empowerment book for theatremakers. It's for anybody who wants to make live theatre, whether you're an actor, a director, a producer, a designer or a writer. Whether you're all of these, or none of them. Categories don't matter. What matters is making your show, and putting it in front of an audience. This book is not a method, nor a practice. It's an accessible toolbox of reflections and provocations designed to help you – an independent-minded, career-driven, professional theatremaker – along the path towards achieving your dreams. Inside, Russell Lucas shares his decades of experience in independent theatremaking, covering aspects including: Generating and developing ideas Working with other creatives Promoting your show and selling tickets Understanding the power of the audience Making ends meet and sustaining your career He tackles abstract problems, dissects the practical ones, and debunks plenty of myths along the way. Inspiring and unconventional, but always grounded in sound, real-world sense, 300 Thoughts for Theatremakers is a book for anyone who's passionate about a life in theatre, and wants to make that a reality. 'Thank God for this book. It will surely be a comfort and support to all those who follow in Russell Lucas's independent and determined footsteps' Alan Lane, Artistic Director of Slung Low, from his Foreword
£14.99
Nick Hern Books Contemporary Monologues for Women: Volume 2
Whether you’re applying for drama school, taking an exam, or auditioning for a professional role, it’s likely you’ll be required to perform one or more monologues, including a piece from a contemporary play. It’s vital to come up with something fresh that’s suited both to you – in order to allow you to express who you are as a performer – and to the specific purposes of the audition. In this book, you’ll find forty fantastic speeches featuring female roles, all written and premiered since the year 2014, by some of the most exciting dramatic voices writing today. Playwrights include Mike Bartlett, Andrew Bovell, Chris Bush, Jez Butterworth, Vivienne Franzmann, Ella Hickson, Lucy Kirkwood, Chinonyerem Odimba, Frances Poet and Stef Smith. The plays featured were premiered at leading venues including the National, the Royal Court, Soho and Hampstead in London, prestigious theatres in Cardiff, Chichester, Edinburgh and Sheffield, and by renowned companies including Clean Break, Frantic Assembly and HighTide. Drawing on her experience as an actor, director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Trilby James introduces each speech with a user-friendly, bullet-point list of ten essential things you need to know about the character, and then five inspiring ideas to help you perform the monologue. This book also features a step-by-step guide to the process of selecting and preparing your speech, and approaching the audition itself. ‘Easy-to-use… The guidance is perhaps the most thorough I have seen in a monologue book’ Teaching Drama on Trilby James’s first volume of Contemporary Monologues Please note that some of the speeches in this volume contain strong language and themes which some readers may find inappropriate.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books Stories
How do you have a baby when you’re thirty-nine and single? You decide. But what happens next? The story, like a child, has a life of its own. The story becomes stories… A funny and touching play about the fertilisation of an idea, Stories premiered at the National Theatre, London, 2018.
£9.99
Nick Hern Books The Elemental Actor: How to Release Your Hidden Powers
We are all a complex mixture of the elemental energies identified by many different cultures throughout history: Earth, Air, Fire, Water – and a fifth element called Quintessence or Spirit. As an actor, you need to be able to access each of them, so that you can draw on whichever element you need to bring your role fully into life. In The Elemental Actor, Mel Churcher explores these deep, primal drives, and gives you practical tools to harness them to make your work more powerful and alive. Her unique approach combines elements of actor training, voice work and movement to increase your range and help you bring depth, specificity and intensity to your performance. The book includes over one hundred games and exercises to help you explore each of the elements, incorporate this work into your practice, and apply it to the world of your role. There are also tips for preparing for auditions and dealing with performance anxiety, as well as advice on how to stay healthy in body, voice and mind. Offering an everlasting palette that will enrich any performance, whether on stage or screen, The Elemental Actor will help you release the wellspring of your imagination, and put elemental power into your work. Mel Churcher is an international acting, dialogue and voice coach who has worked with companies including the Royal National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Regent's Park Open Air Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, Young Vic, Royal Court Theatre and Graeae Theatre Company. She is one of the top acting and dialogue coaches in TV and movies, and has worked with some of the biggest stars of stage and screen.
£17.09
Nick Hern Books The Approach
Listen carefully … Three women. Three conversations. As the details of what they share begin to diverge, we realise that a subtle game of survival is being played. Both psychological puzzle and quietly devastating tragedy, The Approach explores the inner lives of Anna, Cora and Denise as they desperately try to make sense of their world. What will their conversations reveal? And what does each of them have to hide?
£13.99
Nick Hern Books Gut
Maddy and Rory are devoted parents to 3-year-old Joshua, committed to keeping him happy and safe. But when an everyday visit to a supermarket café turns into a far more troubling incident, their trust even in those closest to them is shattered. Fear and doubt consume them, until they reach a savage breaking point. Gut is a taut psychological thriller that explores who we can trust with our children. And whether it’s more dangerous not to trust at all.
£12.99
Nick Hern Books John
The week after Thanksgiving. A bed and breakfast in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. A cheerful innkeeper. A young couple struggling to stay together. Thousands of inanimate objects, watching. John, an uncanny play by Annie Baker, was first seen Off-Broadway in 2015. The play had its UK premiere at the National Theatre, London, in 2018, in a production directed by James Macdonald. Annie Baker’s other plays include Pulitzer Prize-winning The Flick, The Antipodes, Circle Mirror Transformation, The Aliens, and an adaptation of Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya. She has won many other awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship and a MacArthur Grant.
£11.99
Nick Hern Books Box Clever
‘Ever had the feeling you’re going round in one big circle? It’s like I can’t stop recycling my ex-boyfriends. Ten years back and forth between a trio of arseholes and nothing to show for it except a baby, an Argos ring and a beat-up nose.’ Marnie is stuck in a women’s refuge, trying to escape toxic relationship patterns, just wanting to do the best for herself and her daughter. But how do you get out of a rut when everyone you know is a liability? Box Clever is a moving, truthful and darkly comic play, which premiered at the 2017 Edinburgh Festival Fringe in a production by nabokov and The Marlowe, Canterbury, in Paines Plough’s pop-up theatre, Roundabout. ‘Monsay Whitney is a writer of ferocious honesty, rare imagination and extraordinary humanity. She has the potential to become a startling and significant figure in British Theatre’ Simon Stephens
£10.99
Nick Hern Books BU21
'So you know how on the news these days there's just this endless stream of horrendous shit going down, like every single night? Suicide bombs, mass shootings, genocides, drone strikes, school massacres – it's like the end of the world or something... And you're kind of like – "Could I even cope if that stuff happened to me?"' Six young people are caught in the aftermath of a terrorist attack in the heart of London. By turns terrifying, inspiring, brutal, heartbreaking and hilarious, BU21 is verbatim theatre from the very near future. Stuart Slade's play comprises six interlinking monologues. It premiered at Theatre503, London, in 2016, in a co-production with Kuleshov, before transferring to the Trafalgar Studios, London, in January 2017.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Mr Thomas
'You see, Brenda, I'm not like other men...' In a dingy London bedsit in the late 1950s, George is planning a night on the town with his friend Gordon. Weaver wants to come too, and soon Mrs Tebbit, the landlady, has been invited. But when Mr Thomas shows up, the night takes a strange and sinister turn... Kathy Burke's first play is a gritty, darkly funny look at attitudes to homosexuality in the 1950s, a portrait of repressed sexuality and alcoholism – and an homage to the great masters of British theatre, Wilde, Coward, Pinter and Orton. Mr Thomas premiered at the Old Red Lion Theatre, London, in January 1990, directed by the playwright, and starring Ray Winstone as Weaver. Re-issued in this new edition, the play provides rich opportunities for theatre companies, and is a fascinating insight into the work of one of our best-loved actresses.
£9.99
Nick Hern Books The Ferryman
‘Vanishing. It’s a powerful word, that. A powerful word.’ County Armagh, Northern Ireland, 1981. The Carney farmhouse is a hive of activity with preparations for the annual harvest. A day of hard work on the land and a traditional night of feasting and celebrations lie ahead. But this year they will be interrupted by a visitor. Developed by Sonia Friedman Productions, Jez Butterworth's play The Ferryman premiered to huge acclaim at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in April 2017, before transferring to the West End and then Broadway. The production was directed by Sam Mendes. It went on to win the Evening Standard Theatre Award for Best Play, and the Critics' Circle, Olivier and WhatsOnStage Awards for Best New Play. It also won the 2019 Tony Award for Best Play.
£10.99
Nick Hern Books Contemporary Monologues for Teenagers: Female
Forty fantastic female speeches for teenagers, all written since the year 2000, by some of the most exciting and acclaimed writers working today. Whether you're applying for drama school, taking an exam, or auditioning for a professional role, it's likely you'll be required to perform one or more monologues, including a piece from a contemporary play. It's vital to come up with something fresh that's suited both to you – in order to allow you to express who you are as a performer – and to the specific purposes of the audition. In this invaluable collection you'll find forty speeches by leading contemporary playwrights including Andrew Bovell, Nadia Fall, Vivienne Franzmann, James Fritz, Stacey Gregg, Arinzé Kene, Cordelia Lynn, Lynn Nottage, Chinonyerem Odimba, Evan Placey, Jessica Swale and Tom Wells, from plays that were premiered at many of the UK's most famous and respected venues, including the National Theatre, Shakespeare's Globe, Manchester Royal Exchange, Royal Court Theatre, Bush Theatre, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and VAULT Festival. Drawing on her experience as an actor, director and teacher at several leading drama schools, Trilby James introduces each speech with a user-friendly, bullet-point list of ten things you need to know about the character, and then five ideas to help you perform the monologue. This book also features an introduction to the process of selecting and preparing your speech, and approaching the audition itself. 'Sound practical advice for anyone attending an audition… a source of inspiration for teachers and students alike' Teaching Drama Magazine on The Good Audition Guides
£12.99