Nick Hern Books

Nick Hern Books is a British independent publisher specialising in contemporary plays, classic drama, stagecraft and screen adaptation texts. The company has become a prominent supplier of acting editions, performance texts and educational resources used across theatres, universities and training institutions in the United Kingdom and internationally. Its lists include work by leading dramatists, actors and directors and it maintains close relationships with major producing organisations, venues and awarding bodies.

History

Founded in 1988 by Nick Hern, the publishing house emerged during a period of significant change in British theatre that involved institutions such as the Royal Court Theatre, National Theatre, Royal Shakespeare Company, Old Vic, Young Vic, and Bush Theatre. Early catalogue development engaged texts from playwrights associated with movements spanning the careers of Alan Bennett, David Hare, Harold Pinter, Tom Stoppard, and Caryl Churchill. Growth in the 1990s was concurrent with the rise of companies like Complicité, Frantic Assembly, Punchdrunk, and venues such as Donmar Warehouse, Lyric Hammersmith, and Almeida Theatre. The imprint navigated industry shifts linked to funding decisions by bodies including the Arts Council England and broadcasting partnerships with organisations like the BBC, drawing connections to festivals such as the Edinburgh Festival Fringe and international markets including the Edinburgh International Festival and Avignon Festival.

Publications

The catalogue comprises contemporary and classic playtexts, acting editions, anthologies and instructional manuals used in conservatoires and universities including Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art, Guildhall School of Music and Drama, Central School of Speech and Drama, and Bristol Old Vic Theatre School. Notable published plays span works by Martin McDonagh, August Wilson, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Eugene O'Neill, Anton Chekhov, William Shakespeare, Molière, Henrik Ibsen, Euripides, and Sophocles (in modern translations). The list also features contemporary authors such as Deborah Lake Fortson, Lucy Prebble, Mike Bartlett, Stephen Berkoff, Nick Payne, Alan Ayckbourn, Jez Butterworth, David Mamet, Richard Bean, Timberlake Wertenbaker, and Simon Stephens. Practical titles address stagecraft developments linked to figures like Peter Brook, Garry Hynes, Trevor Nunn, Nicholas Hytner, Katie Mitchell and practitioners from the physical theatre tradition such as Jacques Lecoq and Mattiussi?.

Authors and Collaborations

The publisher has collaborated with playwrights, screenwriters, directors and actors including Rufus Norris, Sam Mendes, Phyllida Lloyd, Michael Grandage, Lindsay Posner, Ivo van Hove, Phyllida Lloyd, Vanessa Redgrave, Ian McKellen, Patrick Marber, Mark Ravenhill, Lucy Kirkwood, Anya Reiss, Caryl Churchill, Howard Brenton, Graham Linehan, Alistair McDowall, Penelope Skinner, Dennis Kelly, Roy Williams, Alan Bennett, Sarah Kane, and Joe Penhall. Corporate and institutional partnerships have connected the company with producing bodies and venues including Shakespeare's Globe, Sally Greene, Michael Codron, Sonia Friedman Productions, Royal Exchange Theatre, Nottingham Playhouse, Paines Plough, Finborough Theatre, and Theatre503.

Educational and Licensing Activities

Texts published are widely licensed for performance, study and broadcast, with agreements often coordinated with licensing agencies and unions such as Equity (British trade union), and institutional buyers including British Council programmes and higher education departments at institutions like University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, University of Manchester, University of Leeds, University of Glasgow and King's College London. Materials are used on syllabuses for qualifications awarded by organisations such as Trinity College London, City and Guilds, and conservatoire curricula tied to UK Theatre activities and national audition processes. Workshops, masterclasses and educational packs produced in association with directors have been presented at festivals and venues such as the Wellcome Collection, Tate Modern, Barbican Centre, Southbank Centre, and international theatre schools in cities like New York City, Los Angeles, Sydney, Toronto, Dublin, Berlin and Paris.

Awards and Recognition

Plays in the publisher's lists have been associated with major awards including the Olivier Awards, Tony Awards, Evening Standard Theatre Awards, Critics' Circle Theatre Awards, Susan Smith Blackburn Prize, Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Laurence Olivier Award for Best New Play, Prix Italia recognition where adaptations have been broadcast, and regional prizes such as the Manchester Theatre Awards. Individual authors published have won accolades like the Nobel Prize in Literature (historically for figures whose plays are reprinted), the Obie Awards, Molière Awards, and critics' accolades across international festivals including Cannes Lions (for screen adaptations) and regional honours at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

Category:Book publishing companies of the United Kingdom