Actresses of the Restoration Period by Susan Margaret Cooper (Pen and Sword)
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 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.
Entry for books with 2023 copyright has closed. Publishers requiring more information should contact theatrebookprize@str.org.uk
Long list 2024 in alphabetical order
Submissions are the choice of their publishers. They are not limited in number but must meet the criteria outlined above.
Click on a book cover image below for a direct link to the publisher’s own information about that title.
Shortlist 2024
A short list will be announced in the Spring and the winner at a presentation in June, exact dates not yet determined.
Scroll down for details of a list of previous winners and an archive of reports on past presentations.
Previous winners (by year of publication)
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.
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)