Books by Nick Payne

One relationship. Infinite possibilities.'Let's go for a drink. I don't know what I'm doing here anyway. One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again.'Nick Payne's Constellations is a play about free will and friendship; it's about quantum multiverse theory, love and honey.Constellations premiered at the Theatre Upstairs at the Royal Court Theatre, London, in January 2012.

Melissa wants to get on with her life but never knows when her father is going to turn up next. Over thirty years she struggles to overcome her past while her family, torn apart by alcohol, try to repair the damage. Nick Payne's play about history and hope is a poignant, unflinching reflection on the ties that bind us.

I am scared, that once this war is over, and I am sent home, that you won't be here. That you will have left.Leonard and Violet, young, restless and in love, spend their first night together knowing it may also be their last. It's 1942 and, in a hotel room in Bath, they dream of their future while preparing for Leonard's departure to the war. But the bombs begin to fall and their world will never be the same again. In the year 2002, the couple look back at what might have been.Examining the impact of the Second World War on two ordinary lives and a love that spans more than sixty years.

When a young Electra's father is murdered by her mother, her world changes irrevocably. Ten years on, bound by grief and unwilling to forgive, Electra surrenders to an all-consuming desire for revenge that propels her towards a bloody and terrifying conclusion. This is a haunting new version by Nick Payne of Sophocles' tragic masterpiece, Electra.

Elegy imagines a very-near future in which radical and unprecedented advances in medical science mean that it's possible to augment and extend life. Through the beautiful and moving story of three women who've made the choice between love and survival, Elegy explores a world in which the brain is no longer a mystery to us.

The brain builds a narrative to steady us from moment to moment, but it is absolutely an illusion. There is no me, there is no you, and there is certainly no self.Princeton, New Jersey. 1955. Thomas Stoltz Harvey performs the autopsy on Albert Einstein - and then steals his brain.Bath, England. 1953. Henry undergoes pioneering brain surgery. The surgery changes Henry's life, and the history of neuroscience.London, England. The Present. Martha is a clinical neuropsychologist. When her marriage breaks down she starts to make radically different choices.Three interwoven stories exploring the nature of identity and how we are defined by what we remember, Incognito is an exhilarating exploration of what it means to be human.Nick Payne's Incognito premiered at Live Theatre, Newcastle, in April 2014 in a co-production with nabokov and HighTide Festival Theatre.

Had an accident at work? Tripped on a paving slab? Cut yourself shaving? You could be entitled to compensation. Andrew and Barry at Scorpion Claims, Luton's finest personal injury lawyers, are the men for you. When Kevin, Andrew's high school nemesis, appears in his office the opportunity for a quick win arises. But just how fast does a lie have to spin before it gets out of control?Nick Payne's The Same Deep Water As Me premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in August 2013.

When Anna hits back at the bullies, she suspended from school and stuck at home with hapless Terry trying to save her. But Terry needs saving himself and, as the bond between the two deepens, Anna is swept up in a friendship she can't live without.

I am scared, that once this war is over, and I am sent home, that you won't be here. That you will have left. Leonard and Violet, young, restless and in love, spend their first night together knowing it may also be their last. It's 1942 and, in a hotel room in Bath, they dream of their future while preparing for Leonard's departure to the war. But the bombs begin to fall and their world will never be the same again.In the year 2002, the couple look back at what might have been.Examining the impact of the Second World War on two ordinary lives and a love that spans more than sixty years, Nick Payne's One Day When We Were Young premiered at the Crucible Studio, Sheffield, in October 2011 in a Paines Plough production.

-Sex isn't just about how big and how long.-What is it about then?-All sorts of things.Joy is struggling to remain interested in sex. Her husband thinks of little else. And their teenage son is ready to burst.Nick Payne's frank and compassionate play explores sex and intimacy - and asks whether the two are inevitably and inextricably linked.