The 2020 Williamstown Theater Festival will go ahead, but in a different format—not in its usual Massachusetts home in Williamstown, but on the audio production platform Audible. The collaboration between both organizations, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and ongoing restrictions for theatres around the world, will mark the first time that a theatrical season of work will be produced on Audible.
As previously reported, the 2020 season, set to kick off in late June, includes a revival of A Streetcar Named Desire starring Audra McDonald, Carla Gugino, and Bobby Cannavale; the world premieres of Leslye Headland's Cult of Love and Sanaz Toossi's Wish You Were Here; a Susan Stroman-helmed production of Anna Ziegler's Photograph 51; and Shakina Nayfack's Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club, inspired by Edna Ferber and George S. Kaufman's Stage Door, among other offerings.
The programming will be produced as audio productions, made available on the Audible platform globally. Further information about the 2020 Williamstown Theatre Festival Season on Audible, including release dates and additional casting, will be announced at a later date.
“This virus might get to tell us what we cannot do, but it does not get to dictate what we can do,” WTF Artistic Director Mandy Greenfield says. “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. Doctors, nurses, healthcare workers, and scientists are on the frontlines saving humanity right now; theatre makers can only continue to create work that gives the life we arrive at, on the other side of this crisis, meaning, depth, humor and beauty.”
READ: How Audible Is Disrupting the Theatre Space—For Good
“Deeply dedicated to our mission of bringing more theatre to more people, Audible is thrilled to collaborate with Williamstown in making an extraordinary lineup available to millions of people worldwide," Audible Artistic Producer Kate Navin shares. "The artists and these poignant works deserve to be experienced and will undoubtedly entertain and inspire audiences everywhere.”
To try Audible for free, click here.
