Audible Brings Patti Smith, Aasif Mandvi, and More to Minetta Lane

Audible Inc., has announced the upcoming slate of productions at the Minetta Lane Theatre. The slate includes dynamic writing and performances from Patti Smith, Aasif Mandvi and Isaac Gomez, as well as Chisa Hutchinson. All performances will be recorded as Audible Original productions.

Tickets to Patti Smith: Words and Music at The Minetta Lane and Sakina's Restaurant are available exclusively to Audible members at www.audible.com/minettalane, with access beginning for the general public Wednesday, August 22 at 11:00am. Ticket information for Proof of Love and the way she spoke will be announced at a later date.

All produced by Audible, the upcoming slate at the Minetta Lane Theatre includes:

Patti Smith: Words and Music at The Minetta Lane, features pioneering artist and writer Patti Smith performing original spoken-word stories from her life, interwoven with the music of her beloved catalog played by Smith, her son and daughter Jackson and Jesse Paris Smith, and Tony Shanahan, running from September 22nd-24th.

Actor, writer, and former correspondent for The Daily Show Aasif Mandvi's Obie Award-winning Sakina's Restaurant is a vibrant, funny, and heartwarming one-man show that centers on an Indian immigrant who comes to New York to work at a restaurant and live the American dream, beginning previews on October 5th, and running four weeks only through November 4, with opening night set for October 14. Sakina's Restaurant is written and performed by Mandvi, who brings his acclaimed performance back to the New York stage 20 years after its Obie-winning debut. Originally directed and developed by Kimberly Hughes and under the tutelage of legendary acting teacher Wynn Handman, this production is directed by Kimberly Senior. The creative team includes Wilson Chin (scenic design), Jen Caprio (costume design), Mary Louise Geiger (lighting design), and Jill BC Du Boff (sound design).

Newark resident and emerging playwright Chisa Hutchinson's Proof of Love, the inaugural production from Audible's Emerging Playwright program, with casting news, full creative team information, and exact dates to come. The late 2018 world-premiere of this Audible-commissioned production is a contemporary, probing, and endearing play, full of heart and humor.

The New York premiere of playwright Isaac Gomez's the way she spoke, an honest and thought-provoking one-woman play that demonstrates the power of speaking truth, even as it considers the implications of doing so, running in early 2019, with casting, full creative team information, and exact dates to come.

Audible performances of stage productions starring Billy Crudup, Judith Light, John Lithgow, Carey Mulligan, and others are available for preorder and download at www.audible.com/theater.

"I'm thrilled to be reviving my solo show Sakina's Restaurant in collaboration with the amazing team at Audible," said Mandvi. "Despite twenty years having passed since I first performed it at the American Place Theatre, the themes I was grappling with then, those of an immigrant family, struggling with the joys, heartbreaks and sacrifice of what it means to leave one's home and create a new American life, seem as relevant today as they ever did."

"Announcing Aasif, Chisa, Isaac, and the legendary Patti as the next artists to collaborate with us at the Minetta Lane Theatre has been a long time in the making, and we could not be more excited to welcome audiences back this fall with these artists," said Audible Theater Artistic Producer Kate Navin. "Audible is seeking to transform the theater experience and usher in a new era for audio drama. After last season's audiences embraced the award-winning Harry Clarke and Girls & Boys, we can't wait to continue supporting the creation of compelling works in an even wider spectrum of comedy, drama, music, and more, with both emerging and established creators and bring these shows to Greenwich Village and to millions of people as outstanding listening experiences on Audible."

With a 30-day membership trial at Audible, new listeners can enjoy any one audiobook, including the audio performances of the fall slate of live productions at the Minetta Lane Theatre, free.

Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski