Richard Armitage Performs Romeo and Juliet: A Novel for Audible

Bestselling Author David Hewson’s Audio-Exclusive Reimagining of Shakespeare’s Romantic Tragedy is Now Available for Download at Audible

Audible Studios, a production arm of Audible.com, today announced the release of stage and screen actor Richard Armitage’s heartfelt performance of David Hewson’s Romeo and Juliet: A Novel. Hewson reimagined the world’s most famous love story exclusively for Audible, and in it he plumbs both Shakespeare’s classic play and its source material to produce a romantic, historical tragedy told in modern English that takes listeners through Juliet’s search for individual identity at a time when women were rarely treated as though they had one. Armitage’s performance is now available for download at audible.com/R&J.

“What David Hewson did with this script is so exciting to me,” said Armitage, whose stage and screen credits include Berlin Station, The Hobbit, and Hannibal. “I really love the fact that he followed avenues that Shakespeare suggested but didn’t necessarily detail in depth. If you want to immerse yourself in a warm bath of Garganega and the heat of Verona and hear a brilliant story about a young woman who is challenging the restraints of her time, listen to this audiobook, which has romance, poetry, politics, and humor to spare.”

“David Hewson’s novelization of Hamlet was the first audiobook Richard Armitage ever performed for Audible, and he has since become a narrator who delights our customers regularly with his buttery, melodious tone and skilled pacing,” said Audible EVP and Publisher Beth Anderson. “We are thrilled to pair Armitage and Hewson once again for another memorable audio-original production.”

Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, written by David Hewson and A.J. Hartley, and performed by Richard Armitage, was chosen by Audible members as Audible’s best audiobook of the year in 2014. Armitage’s performance of Classic Love Poems, released on Valentine’s Day in 2015, was one of the most downloaded audiobooks on Audible that year, and the most downloaded poetry collection.

With a 30-day membership trial at Audible, new listeners can enjoy any one audiobook, including this performance of Romeo and Juliet: A Novel, free.

In addition to Richard Armitage, among the acclaimed performers who have narrated works of literature for Audible are Sean Penn, Nick Offerman, Zachary Quinto, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Lily Collins, Emma Thompson, James Franco, and Jesse Eisenberg. In 2013, Audible Studios won its first Grammy Award, for its production of Janis Ian’s memoir Society’s Child, and also won the Audie Award for Audiobook of the Year, for Colin Firth’s performance of Graham Greene’s The End of the Affair.

Audible, the world’s largest seller and producer of downloadable audiobooks and other spoken-word content, invented and commercialized the first digital audio player in 1997, and has since been at the forefront of the explosively growing audiobook download segment. Audible members downloaded an average of more than 17 books over the course of the year. More than half of new Audible members are first-time audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary (NASDAQ:AMZN), is the leading provider of premium digital spoken audio information and entertainment, offering customers a new way to enhance and enrich their lives every day. Audible was created to unleash the emotive music in language and the habituating power and utility of verbal expression. Audible content includes more than 325,000 audio programs from leading audiobook publishers, broadcasters, entertainers, magazine and newspaper publishers, and business information providers. Audible is also the preeminent provider of spoken-word audio products for Apple’s iTunes Store.

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Audible.comEsther Bochner, [e-mail]