Williamstown Theatre Festival's Canceled Season, Featuring Audra McDonald, Bobby Cannavale & More, to Be Released on Audible

Although the 2020 Williamstown Theatre Festival season has been canceled, audiences will still get to experience the productions. The summer season will be produced on Audible, the world’s largest producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks. This is the first time a full theatrical season will appear on the platform.

All seven previously announced productions, including A Streetcar Named Desire, starring Audra McDonald and Bobby Cannavale, will be available in audio form. Stars Dylan Baker, Kate Burton, Anna Chlumsky, Carla Gugino, Taylor Schilling, and more will be featured in the season.

“This virus might get to tell us what we cannot do but it does not get to dictate what we can do,” WTF's Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield said. “The voices of these artists will be heard. Through this alliance with Audible, we keep artists and the generative artistic process centered and steady through this unspeakably difficult moment when public gathering simply isn’t possible."

This is not Audible's first relationship with live theater. The audio platform has been partnering with several productions, including John Leguizamo’s Tony-nominated Latin History for Morons and Simon Stephens’ and Nick Payne’s Sea Wall/A Life, starring Jake Gyllenhaal and Tom Sturridge as well as the off-Broadway productions of David Cale’s Lucille Lortel-winning Harry Clarke, starring Billy Crudup, Dennis Kelly’s Girls & Boys, starring Carey Mulligan, and Patti Smith: Words and Music.

In 2017, Audible launched a $5 million Emerging Playwrights Fund that identifies and invests in new writers, making their works available to listeners globally. Recently produced commissions include the audio release of Madhuri Shekar’s Evil Eye and Lauren Gunderson’s The Half-Life of Marie Curie.

Further information about the 2020 Williamstown Theatre Festival Season on Audible, including casting and audio release dates will be announced at a later date.