NEW YORK CITY: Audible, Inc. has announced that the Minetta Lane Theatre in the Greenwich Village will be its creative home for future live stage productions in New York. The company plans to produce a variety of theatrical events at the theatre, including plays, comedic shows, and panel discussions, and to give Audible members exclusive benefits such as discounted tickets and related audio content.
“Since its earliest days, Audible has been committed to supporting professional actors in their craft and sharing their powerful performances with our listeners,” said Audible founder and CEO Don Katz in a statement. “We are thrilled to be producing live shows at the Minetta Lane Theatre and offering yet another way for people to experience the entertaining, voice-driven productions that define the Audible aesthetic.”
Audible aims to foster new play development through Audible Theatre, a program in which Audible produces new live productions of plays and records them exclusively for Audible as audiobooks. Audible also established a $5M Emerging Playwrights Fund in 2017 to commission and produce new one- and two-person works by playwrights.
Past commissions by Audible Theatre include Neil LaBute’s All The Ways To Say I Love You, which was presented at the MCC Theater in 2016 and featured Judith Light, and a recording of Choderlos de Laclos’ Les Liasons Dangereuses, which featured the 2015 Donmar Warehouse cast, including Elaine Cassidy, Janet McTeer, and Dominic West.
Audible Theatre’s most recent production was its first production at Minetta Lane Theatre, David Cale’s Harry Clarke, a one-man thriller which had performances in March 2018, previously ran at the Vineyard Theatre, and featured Billy Crudup. Upcoming Audible Theatre projects include recordings and live productions of Audible Originals The Path to Pride (June 25), a storytelling event about the LGBTQ community featuring Lance Bass and Nikky Levy, and Girls and Boys (June 12-July 15), a one-woman show by Dennis Kelly and starring Carey Mulligan. Both will play the Minetta Lane Theatre.
The winter and fall lineup for Audible original works at the Minetta Lane Theatre will be announced later. Audible plans to include commissioned works from their inaugural Emerging Playwrights class in this lineup. Audible also plans to announce additional cities for their live productions in the future.
