Hayley Atwell Stars in Original Audible Drama, The Oedipus Plays

NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Audible Studios, a production arm of Audible.com, today announced the release of a new audio drama, The Oedipus Plays. Charged with emotion, this original compilation of Sophocles' Oedipus The King, Oedipus at Colonus and Antigone is a vivid and transporting tale of passion, incest, murder and suicide, centered on a noble family creeping towards downfall. The production showcases powerful performances by a full cast: in addition to Agent Carter's Atwell, who plays Antigone, The Oedipus Plays also stars Julian Glover, who plays Grand Maester Pycelle in HBO's Game of Thrones, Samantha Bond, who played Lady Rosamund Painswick in Downton Abbey, and more. This new recording, the first-ever audio recording of all three plays, is now available for download at audible.com/oedipus.

"She is quite an extraordinary character," Atwell said about voicing Antigone, "someone who very much stands alone from her surroundings, someone who has been born out of great trouble and manages to find dignity in it. What makes her extraordinary is that she is able to feel compassion and appeal to others to be compassionate towards Oedipus and therefore herself. I think that takes a lot of strength and self-awareness to be able to see herself through other people's eyes."

"These heroic Greek dramas have moved theatergoers and readers for centuries," said Audible EVP and Publisher Beth Anderson, "and this new production of the trilogy will delight and inspire listeners all over again. Atwell, Glover, Bond, and the rest of the cast have created an unparalleled performance that demonstrate why these plays continue to endure as landmarks of Western theater."

The Oedipus Plays also includes specially commissioned music from composer Roger Marsh.

With a 30-day membership trial at Audible, new listeners can enjoy any one audiobook, including this performance of The Oedipus Plays, free.

In addition to Atwell, among the acclaimed performers who have narrated works of literature for Audible are Thandie Newton, Emma Thompson, Rosamund Pike, Dan Stevens, James Franco, Jesse Eisenberg, Kate Winslet and Tim Robbins. 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. In 2015, listeners around the world downloaded 1.6 billion hours of audio from Audible.com outlets; Audible members downloaded an average of more than 17 books over the course of the year. Two thirds of new Audible members are first-time audiobook buyers.

ABOUT AUDIBLE, INC.

Audible, Inc., an Amazon.com, Inc. subsidiary 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 300,000 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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