Bringing the critically acclaimed West End production of Sam Shepard’s modern classic to listeners across the world, Audible’s True West will be released on April 4th, allowing global audiences to experience the celebrated production after the live show concludes at London’s Vaudeville Theatre, and providing those who were fortunate enough to see the show in person with the opportunity to relive and share that experience over and over again.
Starring the West End cast, the audio release is directed by Olivier-nominated Matthew Dunster, who was the True West director at the Vaudeville Theatre, and will feature music composed by Joe Zeitlin and Johnny Flynn for the stage production, and the audio will be available exclusively from Audible.
“We’re thrilled that True West has been recorded for an Audible release,” said Kit Harrington and Johnny Flynn. “It has been a very special production for us and it is great that people will now have a chance to experience Sam Shepard’s exceptional play beyond the end of its run at the Vaudeville Theatre”
Set in the searing heat of the Californian desert, True West centres on two warring brothers: Austin (Kit Harington) and Lee (Johnny Flynn). Austin is working on a film script that he has sold to producer Saul Kimmer when Lee stumbles back into his life. Never content to watch from the sidelines he pitches his own idea to Kimmer, an action which has far reaching consequences.
First performed at the Magic Theatre in San Francisco in 1980, where Pulitzer Prize-winner Shepard (1943-2017) was the resident playwright, True West has been staged internationally and aired on TV. Actors who have taken on the roles of Austin and Lee include Tommy Lee Jones, John Malkovich, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Bruce Willis and Mark Rylance.
The release of True West in audio is a continuation of Audible’s commitment to fostering creative talent in theatre and bringing theatrical productions to new audiences, which includes its partnership with LAMDA and its $5 million Emerging Playwright Fund to commission and produce works by emerging playwrights from around the world driven by language and voice. Information about the first 25 commissions can be found here.
