Nick Hern Books
Encyclopedia
Nick Hern Books is a London
-based independent specialist publisher of plays
, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nick Hern in 1988.
of Walker Books
. In 1990 the NHB imprint was taken on by Random House
. It became a fully independent company on 1 January 1993 when Nick Hern acquired the list from Random House, and he subsequently won the Sunday Times 'Small Publisher of the Year Award' in 1994.
’s Mrs. Klein
, which opened at the National Theatre
in August 1988 before transferring to the West End
and Broadway
.
There followed plays by Caryl Churchill
, Arthur Miller
, Mike Leigh
and Stephen Sondheim
, alongside theatre books by Simon Callow
, Michael Coveney
and Antony Sher
.
Nick Hern Books has also published theatre books (biographies, journals
, practical books, how-to guides, etc.) by, amongst others, Peter Brook
, Simon Callow
, Declan Donnellan
, Oliver Ford Davies
, William Gaskill
, Barbara Houseman, Antony Sher
, Max Stafford-Clark
, Harriet Walter
and Timothy West
.
, Medea
, The Rivals
, The Jew of Malta
, The Hypochondriac and A Doll’s House. The series now ranges from The Oresteia (458 BC) to Blood Wedding (1933).
. The series aims to offer the absolute authority of the First Folio
in an accessible form. On the recto
page, the full text of the 1623 First Folio
version of each play is presented in modern type
, without altering or editing the text itself. All of the original spelling, punctuation and layout of the Folio is preserved. On the verso (facing) page, there is a fully modernised version of the corresponding text, enabling direct comparison with the Folio. Each edition also includes an individual introduction and textual notes.
s from popular films. As well as featuring the complete shooting script as used by the director during filming, these also include forewords and introductions by leading film directors
and screenwriters, the dialogue of scenes cut during the editing process, colour photo sections, and complete cast and crew credits.
Screenplays published by Nick Hern Books include:
and abroad, through its worldwide partners, including Dominie Drama in Australia, Play Bureau in New Zealand and DALRO in South Africa.
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
-based independent specialist publisher of plays
Play (theatre)
A play is a form of literature written by a playwright, usually consisting of scripted dialogue between characters, intended for theatrical performance rather than just reading. There are rare dramatists, notably George Bernard Shaw, who have had little preference whether their plays were performed...
, theatre books and screenplays. The company was founded by the former Methuen drama editor Nick Hern in 1988.
History
Nick Hern Books came into being in June 1988, when Nick Hern left Methuen to set up his own imprint under the aegisAegis
An aegis is a large collar or cape worn in ancient times to display the protection provided by a high religious authority or the holder of a protective shield signifying the same, such as a bag-like garment that contained a shield. Sometimes the garment and the shield are merged, with a small...
of Walker Books
Walker Books
Walker Books is an independent British publisher of children's books, founded in 1978 by Sebastian Walker.The success of their Where's Wally? series enabled them to expand into the American market, starting a sister company called Candlewick Press in 1991.Amelia Edwards, co-founder of Walker Books,...
. In 1990 the NHB imprint was taken on by Random House
Random House
Random House, Inc. is the largest general-interest trade book publisher in the world. It has been owned since 1998 by the German private media corporation Bertelsmann and has become the umbrella brand for Bertelsmann book publishing. Random House also has a movie production arm, Random House Films,...
. It became a fully independent company on 1 January 1993 when Nick Hern acquired the list from Random House, and he subsequently won the Sunday Times 'Small Publisher of the Year Award' in 1994.
First Titles
The first title published by Nick Hern Books was Nicholas WrightNicholas Wright (playwright)
Nicholas Wright is a British dramatist. He opened and ran the Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, was joint artistic director of the Royal Court and is a former literary manager and associate director of the Royal National Theatre. Wright began acting as a child, and trained at The...
’s Mrs. Klein
Melanie Klein
Melanie Reizes Klein was an Austrian-born British psychoanalyst who devised novel therapeutic techniques for children that had an impact on child psychology and contemporary psychoanalysis...
, which opened at the National Theatre
Royal National Theatre
The Royal National Theatre in London is one of the United Kingdom's two most prominent publicly funded theatre companies, alongside the Royal Shakespeare Company...
in August 1988 before transferring to the West End
West End of London
The West End of London is an area of central London, containing many of the city's major tourist attractions, shops, businesses, government buildings, and entertainment . Use of the term began in the early 19th century to describe fashionable areas to the west of Charing Cross...
and Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
.
There followed plays by Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill
Caryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
, Arthur Miller
Arthur Miller
Arthur Asher Miller was an American playwright and essayist. He was a prominent figure in American theatre, writing dramas that include plays such as All My Sons , Death of a Salesman , The Crucible , and A View from the Bridge .Miller was often in the public eye,...
, Mike Leigh
Mike Leigh
Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s...
and Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Sondheim
Stephen Joshua Sondheim is an American composer and lyricist for stage and film. He is the winner of an Academy Award, multiple Tony Awards including the Special Tony Award for Lifetime Achievement in the Theatre, multiple Grammy Awards, a Pulitzer Prize and the Laurence Olivier Award...
, alongside theatre books by Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
, Michael Coveney
Michael Coveney
Michael Coveney is a British theatre critic. He was educated at St Ignatius' College, Stamford Hill and Worcester College, Oxford....
and Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...
.
Notable Titles
Notable titles published by Nick Hern Books include the following plays:- Angels in AmericaAngels in AmericaAngels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes is the 1993 Pulitzer Prize winning play in two parts by American playwright Tony Kushner. It has been made into both a television miniseries and an opera by Peter Eötvös.-Characters:...
by Tony KushnerTony KushnerAnthony Robert "Tony" Kushner is an American playwright and screenwriter. He received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1993 for his play, Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes, and co-authored with Eric Roth the screenplay for the 2005 film, Munich.-Life and career:Kushner was born...
– Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 1993; Evening Standard Best Play Award, 1992. Adapted into a successful TV series for HBO, 2003. - August: Osage CountyAugust: Osage CountyAugust: Osage County is a darkly comedic play by Tracy Letts. It was the recipient of the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. The play premiered at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago on 28 June 2007, and closed on 26 August 2007. Its Broadway debut was at the Imperial Theater on 4 December 2007 and...
by Tracy LettsTracy LettsTracy Letts is an American playwright and actor who received the 2008 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for his play August: Osage County.-Biography:...
– Pulitzer Prize for Drama, 2008; Tony Award for Best Play, 2008. - Death and the MaidenDeath and the Maiden (play)Death and the Maiden is a 1990 play by Chilean playwright Ariel Dorfman. The world premiere was staged at the Royal Court Theatre in London on 9 July 1991, directed by Lindsay Posner...
by Ariel DorfmanAriel DorfmanVladimiro Ariel Dorfman is an Argentine-Chilean novelist, playwright, essayist, academic, and human rights activist. A citizen of the United States since 2004, he has been a professor of literature and Latin American Studies at Duke University, in Durham, North Carolina since 1985.-Personal...
– Olivier Award for Play of the Year, 1992. Film adaptation, directed by Roman PolanskiRoman PolanskiRoman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
, 1994. - Disco PigsDisco PigsDisco Pigs is a 2001 Irish film directed by Kirsten Sheridan and written by Enda Walsh, who adapted it from his 1996 play of the same name. Cillian Murphy and Elaine Cassidy star as Cork teenagers who have a lifelong, but unhealthy, friendship that is imploding as they approach adulthood.-Plot:The...
by Enda WalshEnda WalshEnda Walsh is an Irish playwright born in Dublin and currently living in London. Walsh attended the same secondary school where both Roddy Doyle and Paul Mercier taught. Having written for the Dublin Youth Theatre, he moved to Cork where he wrote Fishy Tales for the Graffiti Theatre Company,...
– Stewart Parker Trust Award and the George Devine Award, 1997. Film adaptation directed by Kirsten Sheridan, 2001. - East is EastEast is East (play)East is East is a play by Ayub Khan-Din, first produced by Tamasha Theatre Company in co-production with the Royal Court and Birmingham Repertory Theatre. It is often cited as one of the key works to bring Asian culture to mainstream British audiences...
by Ayub Khan-DinAyub Khan-DinAyub Khan-Din is a British Pakistani actor and playwright.As an actor, Khan-Din participated in some 20 British films and TV series in the late 1980s and the 1990s...
– John Whiting Award, 1996. Film adaptation directed by Damien O’Donnell, 1999. - JerusalemJerusalem (play)Jerusalem is a play by Jez Butterworth that opened at the downstairs theatre of the Royal Court Theatre in London in 2009. The production starred Mark Rylance as Johnny 'Rooster' Byron and Mackenzie Crook as Ginger. After receiving rave reviews its run was extended. In January 2010 it transferred...
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
– Evening Standard Best Play Award, 2009; Critics Circle Award for Best New Play, 2009; Whatsonstage.com Award for Best New Play, 2010. - MojoMojo (play)Mojo is a 1995 play written by English playwright Jez Butterworth that premiered at the Royal Court Theatre in London, directed by Ian Rickson....
by Jez ButterworthJez ButterworthJeremy “Jez” Butterworth is an English dramatist and film director.-Life and career:Butterworth was born in London, England, and attended Verulam Comprehensive School, St Albans and St John's College, Cambridge...
– Olivier Award for Best Comedy, 1996. - My Night With RegMy Night with RegMy Night with Reg is a play by British playwright Kevin Elyot which was produced in 1994 by the Royal Court Theatre, London, directed by Roger Michell...
by Kevin ElyotKevin ElyotKevin Elyot is a British playwright and screenwriter. His most notable works include the play My Night with Reg and the film Clapham Junction.-Sources:*-External links:...
– Olivier Award for Best Comedy, 1995; Evening Standard Award for Best Comedy, 1994. - A NumberA NumberA Number is a 2002 play by English playwright Caryl Churchill which addresses the subject of human cloning and identity, especially nature versus nurture...
by Caryl ChurchillCaryl ChurchillCaryl Churchill is an English dramatist known for her use of non-naturalistic techniques and feminist themes, the abuses of power, and sexual politics. She is acknowledged as a major playwright in the English language and a leading female writer...
– Evening Standard Best Play Award, 2002. TV adaptation by BBC Films, HBO Films and Rainmark Films, 2008. - Pentecost by David EdgarDavid Edgar (playwright)David Edgar is a British playwright and author who has had more than sixty of his plays published and performed on stage, radio and television around the world, making him one of the most prolific dramatists of the post-1960s generation in Great Britain.He was resident playwright at the Birmingham...
– Evening Standard Best Play Award, 1995. - Rafta, Rafta...Rafta, Rafta...Rafta, Rafta... is a comedy by British Pakistani playwright Ayub Khan-Din adapted from the 1963 Bill Naughton play, All in Good Time. The play is set in the working-class English town of Bolton, and examines a story of marital difficulties within an immigrant Indian family. Eeshwar Dutt is a...
by Ayub Khan-DinAyub Khan-DinAyub Khan-Din is a British Pakistani actor and playwright.As an actor, Khan-Din participated in some 20 British films and TV series in the late 1980s and the 1990s...
– Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, 2008. - StanleyStanley (play)Stanley is a 1996 play written by English playwright, Pam Gems. The play was premiered at the Royal National Theatre's Cottesloe Theatre in London.-Plot synopsis:...
by Pam GemsPam GemsPam Gems was a British playwright. The author of numerous original plays, as well as of adaptations of works by major European playwrights of the past, Gems is best known for the 1978 musical play Piaf.-Personal life:...
– Evening Standard Best Play Award, 1996. - Stones in His PocketsStones in His PocketsStones in His Pockets is a two-hander written in 1996 by Marie Jones for the DubbleJoint Theatre Company in Dublin, Ireland.-Plot summary:...
by Marie JonesMarie JonesSarah Marie Jones is a Belfast-based actress and playwright. Born into a working class family, Jones was an actress for several years before turning her hand to writing.-Charabanc/DubbelJoint:...
– Olivier Award for Best New Comedy, 2001; Evening Standard Best Comedy Award, 2000. - Vincent in BrixtonVincent in BrixtonVincent in Brixton is a 2003 play by Nicholas Wright. The play premiered at London's National Theatre. It transferred to the Playhouse Theatre and later to Broadway....
by Nicholas WrightNicholas WrightNicholas or Nick Wright may refer to:* Sir Nicholas Wright , English academic* Nick Wright , English footballer* Nick Wright , English footballer...
– Olivier Award for Best New Play, 2003. - The WeirThe WeirThe Weir is a play written by Conor McPherson in 1997. It was first produced at The Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in London, England, on 4 July 1997. It first appeared on Broadway at the Walter Kerr Theatre on 1 April 1999. It has since been performed in Toronto, Dublin, Belfast, Boston,...
by Conor McPhersonConor McPhersonConor McPherson is an Irish playwright and director.-Life and career:McPherson was born in Dublin, . He was educated at University College Dublin, McPherson began writing his first plays there as a member of UCD Dramsoc, the college's dramatic society, and went on to found Fly By Night Theatre...
– Olivier Award for Play of the Year, 1999; Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright, 1997; Critics Circle Award for Most Promising Playwright, 1997.
Nick Hern Books has also published theatre books (biographies, journals
Diary
A diary is a record with discrete entries arranged by date reporting on what has happened over the course of a day or other period. A personal diary may include a person's experiences, and/or thoughts or feelings, including comment on current events outside the writer's direct experience. Someone...
, practical books, how-to guides, etc.) by, amongst others, Peter Brook
Peter Brook
Peter Stephen Paul Brook CH, CBE is an English theatre and film director and innovator, who has been based in France since the early 1970s.-Life:...
, Simon Callow
Simon Callow
Simon Phillip Hugh Callow, CBE is an English actor, writer and theatre director. He is also currently a judge on Popstar to Operastar.-Early years:...
, Declan Donnellan
Declan Donnellan
Declan Donnellan is a British theatre director and writer. He is co-founder of Cheek by Jowl theatre company. In 1992 he received an honoris causa degree from the University of Warwick and in 2004 he was made a Chevalier de l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres for his work in France...
, Oliver Ford Davies
Oliver Ford Davies
-Biography:From the King's School, Canterbury, he won a scholarship to Merton College, Oxford, where he read History and became President of the Oxford University Dramatic Society . He was awarded the Laurence Olivier Award in 1990 for Best Actor in a New Play for Racing Demon...
, William Gaskill
William Gaskill
William 'Bill' Gaskill is a British theatre director.He worked alongside Laurence Olivier as a founding director of the National Theatre from its time at the Old Vic in 1963...
, Barbara Houseman, Antony Sher
Antony Sher
Sir Antony Sher, KBE is a double Olivier Award winning South African-born British actor, writer, theatre director and painter.- Early years :...
, Max Stafford-Clark
Max Stafford-Clark
Maxwell Robert Guthrie Stewart Stafford-Clark is an English Theatre Director.-Life and career:He went to school at Felsted and Riverdale Country School in New York City. He has worked as a theatre director since he left Trinity College, Dublin.His directing career began as associate director of...
, Harriet Walter
Harriet Walter
Dame Harriet Mary Walter, DBE is a British actress.-Personal life:She is the niece of renowned British actor Sir Christopher Lee, as the daughter of his elder sister Xandra Lee. On her father's side she is a great-great-great-granddaughter of John Walter, founder of The TimesShe was educated at...
and Timothy West
Timothy West
Timothy Lancaster West, CBE is an English film, stage and television actor.-Career:West's craggy looks ensured a career as a character actor rather than a leading man. He began his career as an Assistant Stage Manager at the Wimbledon Theatre in 1956, and followed this with several seasons of...
.
Drama Classics
Nick Hern Books launched its Drama Classics series in 1994 with the aim of creating a budget series of “the most well-known plays from the last 2000 years”, in editions that are suitable for study as well as performance. The first six titles, all published in 1994, were Three SistersThree Sisters (play)
Three Sisters is a play by Russian author and playwright Anton Chekhov, perhaps partially inspired by the situation of the three Brontë sisters, but most probably by the three Zimmermann sisters in Perm...
, Medea
Medea (play)
Medea is an ancient Greek tragedy written by Euripides, based upon the myth of Jason and Medea and first produced in 431 BC. The plot centers on the barbarian protagonist as she finds her position in the Greek world threatened, and the revenge she takes against her husband Jason who has betrayed...
, The Rivals
The Rivals
The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley Sheridan, is a comedy of manners in five acts. It was first performed on 17 January 1775.- Production :...
, The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta
The Jew of Malta is a play by Christopher Marlowe, probably written in 1589 or 1590. Its plot is an original story of religious conflict, intrigue, and revenge, set against a backdrop of the struggle for supremacy between Spain and the Ottoman Empire in the Mediterranean that takes place on the...
, The Hypochondriac and A Doll’s House. The series now ranges from The Oresteia (458 BC) to Blood Wedding (1933).
Shakespeare Folios
This series of editions of Shakespeare’s works, edited by Nick de Somogyi, was launched in 2001 with an edition of HamletHamlet
The Tragical History of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark, or more simply Hamlet, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written between 1599 and 1601...
. The series aims to offer the absolute authority of the First Folio
First Folio
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
in an accessible form. On the recto
Recto
The recto and verso are respectively the "front" and "back" sides of a leaf of paper in a bound item such as a codex, book, broadsheet, or pamphlet. In languages written from left to right the recto is the right-hand page and the verso the left-hand page...
page, the full text of the 1623 First Folio
First Folio
Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies. is the 1623 published collection of William Shakespeare's plays. Modern scholars commonly refer to it as the First Folio....
version of each play is presented in modern type
Typesetting
Typesetting is the composition of text by means of types.Typesetting requires the prior process of designing a font and storing it in some manner...
, without altering or editing the text itself. All of the original spelling, punctuation and layout of the Folio is preserved. On the verso (facing) page, there is a fully modernised version of the corresponding text, enabling direct comparison with the Folio. Each edition also includes an individual introduction and textual notes.
Shooting Scripts
Nick Hern Books also publishes a selection of shooting scriptShooting script
A shooting script is the version of a screenplay used during the production of a motion picture. Shooting scripts are distinct from spec scripts in that they make use of scene numbers , and they follow a well defined set of procedures specifying how script revisions should be implemented and...
s from popular films. As well as featuring the complete shooting script as used by the director during filming, these also include forewords and introductions by leading film directors
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
and screenwriters, the dialogue of scenes cut during the editing process, colour photo sections, and complete cast and crew credits.
Screenplays published by Nick Hern Books include:
- Adaptation. by Charlie KaufmanCharlie KaufmanCharles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman is an American screenwriter, producer, and director. His film work includes Being John Malkovich, Human Nature, Adaptation, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Synecdoche, New York...
and Donald Kaufman – BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 2002 - A Beautiful MindA Beautiful Mind (film)A Beautiful Mind is a 2001 American drama film based on the life of John Nash, a Nobel Laureate in Economics. The film was directed by Ron Howard and written by Akiva Goldsman. It was inspired by a bestselling, Pulitzer Prize-nominated 1998 book of the same name by Sylvia Nasar...
by Akira Goldsmith – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 2001; Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay, 2001 - Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindEternal Sunshine of the Spotless MindEternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is a 2004 American romantic science fiction film about an estranged couple who have each other erased from their memories, scripted by Charlie Kaufman and directed by the French director, Michel Gondry. The film uses elements of science fiction, psychological...
by Charlie Kaufman – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, 2004; BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, 2004 - Gosford ParkGosford ParkGosford Park is a 2001 British-American mystery comedy-drama film directed by Robert Altman and written by Julian Fellowes. The film stars an ensemble cast, which includes Helen Mirren, Maggie Smith, Eileen Atkins, Alan Bates, and Michael Gambon...
by Julian Fellowes – Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay, 2001 - The Ice StormThe Ice StormThe Ice Storm is a 1994 American novel by Rick Moody. The novel was widely acclaimed by readers and critics alike, described as a funny, acerbic, and moving hymn to a dazed and confused era of American life....
by James Schamus – Cannes Film Festival Best Screenplay Award, 1997 - The Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank RedemptionThe Shawshank Redemption is a 1994 American drama film written and directed by Frank Darabont and starring Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman....
by Frank Darabont - Slumdog MillionaireSlumdog MillionaireSlumdog Millionaire is a 2008 British epic romantic drama adventure film directed by Danny Boyle, written by Simon Beaufoy, and co-directed in India by Loveleen Tandan. It is an adaptation of the novel Q & A by Indian author and diplomat Vikas Swarup...
by Simon Beaufoy – Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 2008; BAFTA Award for Best Adapted Screenplay, 2008 - The Truman ShowThe Truman ShowThe Truman Show is a 1998 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Peter Weir and written by Andrew Niccol. The cast includes Jim Carrey as Truman Burbank, as well as Laura Linney, Noah Emmerich, Ed Harris and Natascha McElhone...
by Andrew Niccol – BAFTA Award for Best Original Screenplay, 1999
Performing Rights
Nick Hern Books handles performing rights for most of the plays it publishes, issuing licenses for amateur performance both within the United KingdomUnited Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and abroad, through its worldwide partners, including Dominie Drama in Australia, Play Bureau in New Zealand and DALRO in South Africa.