We're delighted to announce Amateur Theatre Fest: an exciting, brand-new, full-day event of workshops, talks and performances.

On Saturday 8 September 2018, join hundreds of other passionate amateur theatre-makers at The Questors Theatre, Ealing, West London, for a day-long programme that gives you the opportunity to:

- ENJOY a celebration of the UK’s incredible amateur theatre scene, and a chance to network with hundreds of fellow theatre-makers

- MEET and hear from leading names including as Simon Callow, Mike Bartlett, Amanda Whittington and Jez Butterworth

- LEARN skills for your own productions, with expert workshops on design, auditions, directing, singing, stage combat, voice, performing Shakespeare, marketing and more

For full information about the day, visit the Amateur Theatre Fest website.

Tickets to Amateur Theatre Fest go on sale at 12 noon on Tuesday 8 May. They'll initially be available at a special, time-limited Early Bird rate of £25 for individuals and £100 for groups of five. So spread the word, round up some friends, and come along to what promises to be a brilliant day.

Places at Amateur Theatre Fest are strictly limited, so be sure to book early to avoid disappointment.

Here at Nick Hern Books we're proud to work with so many talented and ambitious amateur theatre companies who license and perform the brilliant plays we publish. And as we celebrate our thirtieth anniversary in 2018, we can't wait to meet and celebrate with lots of you on 8 September. See you there!

We are proud and excited to announce the launch of two brand new plays in the Platform series by Tonic Theatre:

The Glove Thief by Beth Flintoff

Red by Somalia Seaton

Developed in partnership between Tonic Theatre and Nick Hern Books, Platform aims to address the underrepresentation of women on stage by increasing the opportunities for girls and young women. Tonic’s research has shown that 75% of youth-theatre groups describe their membership as having more girls than boys, or being entirely female. Despite this, youth-theatre leaders say they struggle to find scripts with enough female roles to accommodate them.

Platform seeks to address this mismatch by offering new, big-cast plays, specifically for young people, with predominantly or all-female casts. They’re scripts that put young women at the heart of the action, and are full of rich, complex characters they’ll love to play. The first three plays in the series were launched in 2015 and have seen productions around the world, offering exciting new opportunities to hundreds of young women (and young men!).

We’re excited to announce that the two new Platform plays are available to buy and perform from 9 November 2017. We are offering to send up to three titles to you on approval for 30 days, so you can have a read before you commit.

We hope you enjoy reading and staging these excellent plays!

Tamara & Marcelo

Performing Rights Team

Our annual Edinburgh Fringe Report is out now and available here. This year, four intrepid amateur companies performing plays licensed by Nick Hern Books report back on how things went at the Edinburgh Fringe, and offer their Top Tips for any companies wanting to take on the Fringe in future years.

The productions featured in this year's Fringe Report are: Aquila (Eagle House School, Berkshire, and Cargilfield School, Edinburgh) performing Rudyard Kipling's The Jungle Book; Gritty Theatre performing Tom Wells' About a Goth; The Theatre School, Tunbridge Wells, performing Girls Like That by Evan Placey; and Saughtonhall Drama Group, Edinburgh, performing Amanda Whittington's Ladies' Day.

Thank you to those companies for their contribution, and to all the other companies (fifteen of you in all) who performed Nick Hern Books' plays at the Fringe this year!

NHB Most Performed Plays in 2017

Looking for inspiration? Here are some tried-and-tested plays to guarantee a sure-fire hit, have a look at this best-selling selection.

These are the most-performed plays from the first half year of 2017. As you can see Jessica Swale is contesting Amanda Whittington for the place at the top of the pyramid now. We are very proud that the top five most performed plays were all written by women, and that the ratio of female vs male playwrights overall is 7 to 3, again bucking the overall industry trend!

You must all have read Lucy Kerbel's All Change Please and made your programming decisions accordingly! Or possibly the reason for our women writer's success was that they have written plays with wonderful strong roles for women, which, as we all know, are always high in demand.

The plays include Nell Gwynn who is topping the charts with its quick-witted central character, tales of female friendship in Ladies' Day and Di and Viv and Rose to a group of students fighting for equal rights to education in Blue Stockings. There is also a great selection of fairy tales, comedies and historical drama - take your pick!

Here is the full list, in order of popularity:

• Nell Gwynn by Jessica Swale
• Ladies' Day by Amanda Whittington
• Blue Stockings by Jessica Swale
• The Thrill of Love by Amanda Whittington
• Swallows & Amazons by Arthur Ransome, adapted by Helen Edmundson and Neil Hannon
• The Hound of the Baskervilles by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, adapted by Steven Canny & John Nicholson for Peepolykus
• Kindertransport by Diane Samuels
• Di and Viv and Rose by Amelia Bullmore
• Philip Pullman's Grimm Tales by Philip Pullman, adapted by Philip Wilson
• Arabian Nights by Dominic Cooke

We are so pleased to announce that our newsletter has had a make-over and we now bring you a very attractive early bird discount of a whopping 30% on the performing licence fee for selected plays and new releases. The offer is valid for 90 days after being announced on the newsletter. You merely have to commit (and purchase the rights) to a production before the deadline, regardless of when it will take place. Our line-up includes a mix of the most exciting new releases fresh from their professional premieres, established hits, and shows you may not have heard of yet but are bound to love! We also highlight a book of the month. So do make sure you are signed up to our mailing list here and spread the word on social media. To find out which plays are currently on offer have a look here.

Our new Plays to Perform brochure features a wide selection of new releases and many of our most popular plays, and is FREE to browse online - or we'll even send you a copy by post if you'd prefer.

Whatever you're looking for, you're sure to find it here, whether it's a crowd-pleasing comedy, a musical, a historical drama, something with great roles for women or a play with lots of parts for younger performers. Also included are candid reviews from amateur companies who have staged the plays to give you a feel for what they're like in performance.

Why not have a browse now...

If you'd prefer us to send you a FREE copy in the post, email us at PerformingRights@nickhernbooks.co.uk with your address.

And remember, if you want specific advice or guidance, you can always contact our Performing Rights department by telephone on 020 8749 4953.