Eight essential LGBTQ+ plays packed with brilliant monologues, handpicked for actors by the experts at Nick Hern Books.
Authentic representation on stage matters now more than ever. In celebration of Pride, we’ve collaborated with Maddie Hindes, Commissioning Editor at performing arts publishers Nick Hern Books, to curate a reading list that reflects the beautiful complexity of the queer community.
Spanning a wide range of themes, backgrounds, and identities, these eight exceptional plays celebrate the vibrant spectrum of queer storytelling while providing exceptional text for actors to get their chops around. What’s more, you can save 40% on dozens of hand-picked plays and musicals on the Nick Hern Books website by using the discount code NHBPRIDE at checkout*.
1. …blackbird hour
By babirye bukilwa
Shortlisted for the Bruntwood Prize and the Women’s Prize for Playwriting, this deeply moving script premiered at London’s Bush Theatre. It follows ‘Eshe’, a queer Black woman who has retreated into her flat, shutting out the loved ones trying to ‘save’ her as she attempts to find a way to love herself.
Why it’s essential for actors: bukilwa’s text seamlessly blends urgent, naturalistic dialogue with beautiful touches of poetic imagery and pop culture. For queer Black actors looking for contemporary, high-stakes material, this play is an absolute goldmine of complex, emotionally raw monologues and tense, charged duologues.
2. Cyrano
By Virginia Gay (original auther Edmond Rostand)
This joyous, gender-flipped, and intensely romantic same-sex reimagining of the classic play was a smash hit at the Edinburgh Festival Fringe before transferring to London’s Park Theatre. ‘Cyrano’ is a brilliant wordsmith and charmer, but she is deeply ashamed of her own appearance so she begins writing exquisite love scenes on behalf of the tongue-tied ‘Yan’ to woo the beautiful, poetry-loving ‘Roxanne’.
Why it’s essential for actors: This script features a fiercely muscular, meta-theatrical wit that is an absolute joy to perform. It provides incredible opportunities for actors to flex their comedic timing, dive into fast-paced wordplay, and deliver passionate romantic duologues that challenge heteronormativity.
3. Dear Young Monster
By Pete MacHale
This vivid, witty, and humane debut solo show was nominated for a WhatsOnStage Award during its run at the Bristol Old Vic and Soho Theatre. It charts the journey of a young trans man who retreats to his quiet hometown during his medical transition, finding an unexpected sense of salvation and self-acceptance after a midnight screening of Frankenstein.
Why it’s essential for actors: MacHale’s writing is sharp, poetic, and darkly funny, perfectly balancing the heavy claustrophobia of feeling alienated from one’s body with moments of brilliant levity. It offers trans and non-binary actors an extraordinary, authentic piece of solo text filled with gripping, standalone audition monologues.
4. Four Play
By Jake Brunger
A frank, provocative, and laugh-out-loud comedy about sex, commitment, and monogamy in the 21st century. After seven years together, stable couple ‘Rafe’ and ‘Pete’ decide to scratch a mutual itch by propositioning their friend ‘Michael’ and unknowingly trigger a chaotic domino effect across their relationships.
Why it’s essential for actors: Brunger writes exceptional, fast-paced contemporary dialogue that captures the rhythm of modern relationships. The play is packed with sharp, witty, and emotionally vulnerable duologues, making it a fantastic resource for actors looking to practice relationship chemistry and realistic ensemble work.
5. Hungry
By Chris Bush
A masterful play about food, love, class, and grief from one of the UK’s most exciting contemporary playwrights. It explores the intense relationship between ‘Lori’, a professional chef with big ambitions, and ‘Bex’, a minimum-wage waitress trying to survive in a rigged system.
Why it’s essential for actors: Written with immense wit and empathy, Hungry offers actors intensely physical, fast-paced, and sensuous material. The power struggles over class and lifestyle translate into gripping duologues that demand a high level of emotional nuance and rhythm from both performers.
6. The Ministry of Lesbian Affairs
By Iman Qureshi
This exuberant, heartwarming stage comedy tells the story of a ragtag, culturally diverse lesbian choir navigating love, loss, and song choices as they try to land a spot on the Pride mainstage. First performed at the Soho Theatre and revived at the Kiln Theatre, it is a brilliant celebration of queer community and found family.
Why it’s essential for actors: Qureshi’s script is a masterclass in ensemble comedy, dancing effortlessly between broad, belly-laugh humour and moments of gut-wrenching pathos. It’s an invaluable source of multi-layered, comedic and dramatic monologues for queer women and non-binary actors.
7. Miss Myrtle’s Garden
By Danny James King
This quietly beautiful and deeply funny play centres on the sharp-tongued ‘Miss Myrtle’, a proud matriarch trying to manage her unkempt garden in a rapidly changing neighbourhood. When her grandson ‘Rudy’ and his “close friend” ‘Jason’ move in, family secrets, grief, and the slow realities of dementia begin to bloom.
Why it’s essential for actors: King has a gift for writing rich, specific comedy mixed with devastating heartbreak. The script provides older actors with a powerhouse role in Myrtle, while offering young actors textually rich material rooted in the unsaid and family legacy.
8. Paradise Now!
By Margaret Perry
Nominated for an Olivier Award, this funny and raging play features an all-female cast. It follows ‘Gabriel’, a woman who has never been up to much until she meets ‘Alex’ and is drawn into the floral-scented world of selling essential oils at Paradise. Gabriel finds themselves rising through the ranks in a desperate search for community and connection.
Why it’s essential for actors: Perry explores ambition and exploitation with a brilliant, frantic energy. The play offers a variety of dynamic, high-energy monologues and multi-character scenes that explore the complex intersections of female friendship, capitalism, and isolation.
And while this title isn’t included in the discount offer, we wanted to share a new title for any actors who are looking to take their creative journey into staging their own work.
Out On Stage – How to Make Queer Theatre
By Martin Lewton
Out On Stage is an empowering, hands-on guide to creating your own piece of queer theatre. Packed with practical advice, creative exercises, and inspiring examples from hidden queer histories to modern trans drama, it covers everything from finding your voice to choosing your form. It also details the logistics of funding, securing venues, and finding your audience and features exclusive insights from leading queer theatremakers, including Travis Alabanza, Neil Bartlett, Jo Clifford, and Iman Qureshi.
Reading plays is one of the most exciting ways for actors to discover distinct creative voices, stretch their character work, and build up a unique repertoire of material. By exploring these contemporary gems from Nick Hern Books, you aren’t just finding your next great monologue, you’re engaging with stories that reflect the beautiful, complex diversity of our world today. Happy reading!
*This offer is valid until 30 June 2026, and applies to both paperbacks and ebooks (where available).
