The National Theatre has launched an original podcast series in partnership with Audible, featuring 10 shortlisted and winning plays from the tenth-annual nationwide in-school playwriting programme New Views.
The podcast, titled New Voices, features plays written as part of the programme by students aged 14-19 that have been adapted into an audio format, with support from both Audible and the National Theatre in commissioning, audio development, and recording.
“Seeing our talented New Views writers expand their skills further by developing their plays into audio dramas is wonderful,” said National Theatre learning and national partnerships director Alice King Farlow. “We are delighted to collaborate with Audible to support our New Views programme and create the New Voices podcast to allow these young people to share their voices with an even wider audience and have the opportunity to explore different career pathways.”
Audible is the official audio partner for the New Views playwriting competition, having first partnered with the National Theatre in 2020 to adapt the young writers’ scripts into audio. The podcast will include six brand new plays and four previously released ones that were part of Audible and the National Theatre’s previous podcast collaboration.
The plays feature voices from across the nation, talking about important issues including alcoholism, neurodivergence, identity, immigration, and grief. The full 10 episodes were released on 3 August and are available to listen to as a boxset on Audible.
“At Audible we are proud to champion new voices and invest in the next generation of writing talent,” said Audible head of UK and Canada Tracey Markham. “Each New Voices playwright has a fascinating and unique perspective, and we are honoured to work with the National Theatre to produce these plays to celebrate the New Views programme’s 10th anniversary.
“The podcast provides a brilliant insight into the lives of young people today and we hope the audio series encourages more emerging playwrights to share their work and look to audio as an exciting opportunity in the dramatic arts.”
