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.

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. It transferred to the Duke Of York's Theatre, London, in November, and was awarded the Evening Standard award for Best New Play 2012.

Four actors play a combined twenty-one characters within Incognito's three interwoven stories. A pathologist steals the brain of Albert Einstein; a neuropsychologist embarks on her first romance with another woman; a seizure patient forgets everything but how much he loves his girlfriend. Incognito braids these mysterious stories into one breathtaking whole that asks whether memory and identity are nothing but illusions.

Surviving school as a fat kid is tough enough. When your mum's a teacher, it's hell. What's more, Anna's dad is obsessed with saving the world and her maverick uncle Terry is dossing on the couch. 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. If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet premiered at the Bush Theatre, London, in October 2009. Nick Payne won the George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright 2009.

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?

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.

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.

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.

'One drink. And if you never want to see me again you never have to see me again.' A quantum physicist and a beekeeper meet. They hit it off, or perhaps they don't. They might go home together, they might not. Constellations explores love, free will, and friendship through quantum multiverse theory and honey. Constellations premiered at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, London, in 2012, and transferred to the Duke of York's. It opened on Broadway in 2015; and at the Vaudeville Theatre, London, in 2021. 'Nick Payne's gorgeous two-character drama, may be the most sophisticated date play Broadway has seen.' New York Times

What if every neuron in the human brain could be mapped and decoded? Every act of human behaviour catalogued and wholly understood? 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. But at what cost? Nick Payne's Elegy premiered at the Donmar Warehouse, London, in April 2016.

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.

"A singular astonishment." --John Lahr, "The New Yorker
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One relationship. Infinite possibilities.
In the beginning Marianne and Roland meet at a party. They go for a drink, or perhaps they don't. They fall madly in love and start dating, but eventually they break up. After a chance encounter in a supermarket they get back together, or maybe they run into each other and Marianne reveals that she's now engaged to someone else and that's that. Or perhaps Roland is engaged. Maybe they get married, or maybe their time together will be tragically short.
Nick Payne's "Constellations" is a play about free will and friendship; it's also about quantum multiverse theory, love, and honey.

Fifteen-year-old Anna is bullied by her classmates for being overweight. Her mother, Fiona, decides to transfer her to the school where she teaches, but that only makes things worse. Anna's father, George, is no help--he's too obsessed with saving the world. Just as Anna gets suspended for head-butting one of her tormenters, her uncle Terry arrives for an unannounced visit. A heartbroken, filthy-mouthed slacker, Terry reaches out to Anna in a way that no one ever has. Their unexpected friendship sends her parents' rocky marriage into a tailspin as the whole family wonders what--or who--really needs saving.
Nick Payne's "If There Is I Haven't Found It Yet" is a brilliantly sad, humorous, and empathetic look at a family stuck somewhere between knowing what the problem is and doing something about it.

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.