STR THEATRE BOOK PRIZE
Established to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of the Society for Theatre Research in 1998, the aim of the Book Prize is to encourage the writing and publication of books on British-related theatre history and practice, both those which present the theatre of the past and those which record contemporary theatre for the future. It was first awarded for books published in 1997.
The award is presented annually for a book on British or British related theatre which an independent panel of judges considers to be the best published during the previous year. All new works of original research first published in English on any aspect or genre of theatre and performance are eligible except for play texts and studies of drama as literature.
The three judges, who are different each year, are drawn from the ranks of theatre practitioners, theatre critics, senior academics concerned with theatre, and theatre archivists, with a member of the committee of the Society for Theatre Research as chair.
The deadline for submissions for 2025 copyright books is 19th January 2026. For more information, publishers should contact theatrebookprize@str.org.uk
2026 Judges (for books published 2025)
Dr John Godber OBE
Dr John Godber OBE is a playwright and director. His plays are performed across the world, and he has the distinction of being one of the most performed writers in the English language. He was Artistic Director of Hull Truck for twenty six years, culminating in opening a brand new theatre designed for his work in 2010. He won two BAFTA’s in 2005, an Olivier Award in 1984, and eight LA Theatre Awards in 1989. He wrote Grange Hill with Anthony Minghella and Brookside with Sir Phil Redmond. He has his own production company which tours the U.K. A trained drama teacher, he has a degree in education, a Master’s degree in theatre, and a PhD from Leeds University. He was awarded an OBE for his services to the arts in 2018. He lives near the Humber bridge.
Maryam Philpott
Maryam Philpott is a theatre critic with over 12 years’ experience writing reviews, features and previews for The Reviews Hub team in London covering theatre, dance and film. Her own site Cultural Capital is dedicated to long-form theatre criticism, placing reviews in a broader historical and performance context. With a background in social and cultural history, previous publications include the peer reviewed academic text James Graham: State of the Nation Playwright, the first study of the writer’s work, published by Palgrave Macmillan and shortlisted for the Society for Theatre Research Prize in 2025.
Thomas Hopkins
Thomas Hopkins is a theatre producer and general manager whose credits include Rose (The New Ambassadors Theatre) & This Bitter Earth (Soho Theatre West End), The Talented Mr Ripley and Glorious! (UK tours), Prince Faggot, Becoming Eve (Off-Broadway,) John Proctor is the Villain, Liberation, Two Strangers (Carry a Cake across New York) and Oedipus (Broadway). Thomas is a distinguished member of both the League of Independent Producers and the Society of London Theatre, as well as a voting member of the Olivier Awards. Furthermore, Thomas is a trustee of the charity Just Add Milk, committed to enhancing accessibility within the industry through workshops, new plays, educational programmes, and the Luke Westlake scholarship.
Previous winners (by year of publication)
2024 – Straight Acting: The Hidden Queer Lives of William Shakespeare by Will Tosh (Sceptre)
2023 – Out for Blood by Chris Adams (Bloomsbury)
2022- An Actor’s Life in 12 Productions by Oliver Ford Davies (Book Guild)
2021 – Stirring Up Sheffield by Colin and Tedd George (Wordville)
2020 – Black British Women’s Theatre by Nicola Abram (Palgrave Macmillan)
2019 – Dark Star: A Biography of Vivien Leigh by Alan Strachan (I B Tauris)
2018 – Year of the Mad King: The King Lear Diaries by Antony Sher (Nick Hern Books)
2017 – Balancing Acts by Nicholas Hytner (Jonathan Cape)
2016 – Stage Managing Chaos by Jackie Harvey with Tim Kelleher (McFarland)
2015 – The Censorship of British Drama 1900-1968 by Steve Nicholson (University of Exeter Press)
2014 – Oliver! by Marc Napolitano (Oxford University Press)
2013 – The National Theatre Story by Daniel Rosenthal (Oberon)
2012 – Mr Foote’s Other Leg by Ian Kelly (Picador)
2011 – Covering McKellen by David Weston (Rickshaw Publishing)
2010 – The Reluctant Escapologist by Mike Bradwell (Nick Hern Books)
2009 – Different Drummer: the Life of Kenneth Macmillan by Jann Parry (Faber & Faber)
2008 – Theatre and Globalisation: Irish Drama in the Celtic Tiger Era by Patrick Lonergan (Palgrave Macmillan)
2007 – State of the Nation by Michael Billington (Faber & Faber)
2006 – John Osborne: A Patriot for Us by John Heilpern (Chatto & Windus)
2005 – 1599: A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare by James Shapiro (Faber & Faber)
2004 – Margot Fonteyn by Meredith Daneman (Penguin/Viking)
2003 – National Service by Richard Eyre (Bloomsbury)
2002 – A History of Irish Theatre 1601-2000 by Christopher Morash (Cambridge University Press)
2001 – Reflecting the Audience: London Theatregoing, 1840-1880 by Jim Davis & Victor Emeljanow
– (Iowa University Press/University of Hertfordshire Press)
2000 – Politics, Prudery and Perversions…. Censoring the English Stage 1901-1968 by Nicholas de Jongh (Methuen)
1999 – Garrick by Ian McIntyre (Allen Lane)
1998 – Threads of Time by Peter Brook (Methuen)
1997 – Peggy: the Life of Margaret Ramsay, Play Agent by Colin Chambers (Nick Hern)
Book Prize Archive
The Book Prize has been awarded each year since 1997.
Click on the links for more information.
2025 (books published in 2024)
2024 (books published in 2023)
2023 (books published in 2022)
2022 (books published 2021)
2021 (books published 2020)
2020 (books published 2019)
2019 (books published 2018)
2018 (books published 2017)
2017 (books published 2016)
2016 (books published 2015)
2015 (books published 2014)
2014 (books published 2013)
2013 (books published 2012)
2012 (books published 2011)
2011 (books published 2010)
2010 (books published 2009)
2009 (books published 2008)
2008 (books published 2007)
2007 (books published 2006)
2006 (books published 2005)
2005 (books published 2004)
2004 (books published 2003)
2003 (books published 2002)
2002 (books published 2001)
2001 (books published 2000)
2000 (books published 1999)
1999 (books published 1998)
1998 (books published 1997)