Williamstown Theatre Festival & Audible Commence Recording Sessions; Casting for "Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club" Announced, Including Nine Actors of Trans Experience

Playwright and star Shakina Nayfack – Photo courtesy of Williamstown Theatre Festival

Williamstown Theatre Festival (Mandy Greenfield, Artistic Director) and Audible (Kate Navin, Artistic Producer, Audible Theater) announced rehearsals and remote recording sessions have commenced for four productions as part of the upcoming Williamstown Theatre Festival season produced by Audible, the world’s largest producer and provider of original spoken-word entertainment and audiobooks.

The four plays – Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club by Shakina Nayfack, directed by Laura Savia; Photograph 51 by Anna Ziegler, directed by Susan Stroman; Animals by Stacy Osei-Kuffour, directed by Whitney White; and A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams, directed by Robert O’Hara – will begin remote recording sessions as early as next week. Exact release dates on Audible and additional information about the full season of seven shows including casting will be announced shortly.

In addition, rehearsals are now underway for Chonburi International Hotel & Butterfly Club which features a cast that includes nine actors of trans experience. The complete cast features the playwright, Shakina Nayfack, alongside Ivory Aquino, Kate Bornstein, Liz Lark Brown, SAG Award winner Annie Golden, Bianca Leigh, Telly Leung, Dana Levinson, Pooya Mohseni, Angelica Ross, Ita Segev, Grammy Award^® nominee Jason Tam, and Samy Nour Younes.

In Shakina Nayfack’s world premiere play, a vibrant, international group of transgender women band together at a hotel in Thailand to confront the challenges and joys of gender confirmation surgery. Despite the group’s warm welcome, Kina (Nayfack) prepares for her life-altering operation all alone. But a caring nurse (Ivory Aquino), a wise couple (Kate Bornstein and Annie Golden), and a karaoke-loving bellhop (Telly Leung) may be exactly who she needs to ignite her truest sense of self. WTF Associate Artistic Director Laura Savia directs this spirited comedy about one woman who tests the bonds of an unlikely sisterhood.

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As previously announced, this unprecedented collaboration between two industry leaders, forged during and in response to a fraught moment in history, preserves the festival season in a different format, provides continued work for the artists involved in the festival season, and produces a body of work that will be made available for global Audible listeners to enjoy and experience. It also marks the first time that an external theatrical season of work will be produced on Audible.

In addition to being available for Audible listeners, the Williamstown Festival season on Audible will be made available to Williamstown Festival subscribers and donors.

For more information, please visit www.wtfestival.org. For more information about Audible Theater, which makes outstanding performances and powerful storytelling available to millions of people all over the world, please visit www.audible.com/theater.