Audible, a provider of spoken word entertainment, today announced a new Audible Original ‘Becoming Meg Dashwood’. Academy Award, BAFTA, Golden Globe & Emmy Award-winner Emma Thompsonisbothexecutive producer and star of the new audio drama which is launching exclusively on Audible on October 6th.

Thirty years on from her Oscar-winning screenplay and performance in the Ang Lee-directed film version of Sense and Sensibility, Thompson revisits the story in this Audible Original, written by actor and writer Rebecca Humphries. This drama picks up where Sense and Sensibility left off, centered around the youngest Dashwood sister, Margaret. Becoming Meg Dashwood is a riotous, rebellious period drama about female friendship, sexuality and liberation.

Becoming Meg Dashwood features an electric cast lead by Emma Thompson as Margaret Dashwood, whilst Emmy-nominated Erin Doherty (Adolescence, A Thousand Blows) plays Margaret’s younger self, ‘Meg’ Dashwood, and BAFTA award-winning Naomi Ackie (Mickey 17, Blink Twice) plays her lover, Nelly.

Also starring are Liz Carr as Mrs Dashwood, Jessica Gunning as Hester, Paterson Joseph as Colonel Brandon, Greg Wise as Dr Keats, Golda Rosheuvel as older Nelly and Imelda Staunton as Mrs Jennings, all supported by a full ensemble cast.

Produced by Polly Thomas for Thomas Carter Projects, Becoming Meg Dashwood features an original and dynamic new score composed by Natasha Khan, known as Bat For Lashes, supported by immersive Dolby Atmos sound, with sound design by Olga Reed (George Orwell’s 1984). Written by author and actor Rebecca Humphries (Why Did You Stay?), for whom Becoming Meg Dashwood is her stunning audio drama debut, and directed by Jo Tyabji (Sam Mendes’ Bleak House, Antigone).

Emma Thompson, Executive Producer and Star of Becoming Meg Dashwood shared: “I am very thrilled and proud to have been a part of bringing Audible and Rebecca Humphries’ extraordinary drama to life. Their vision for the youngest Dashwood sister takes us from Austen’s world into the more hidden parts of women’s lives, parts that were not written about at the time, at least not openly. I think Austen would have been fascinated and delighted with the language and with the story, and gladdened by the desire to take one of her characters and give her a future and a big, unexpected voice.”

Rebecca Humphries, writer of Becoming Meg Dashwood added: “My first thought, when Audible asked for a take on Margaret Dashwood, was: Jane and Cassandra Austen never married. What if Margaret didn’t want to either? The only way to honour Jane Austen was to do what she did: take the love story and push it somewhere new. This one’s about liberation, class, queerness, and all the things that on Jane’s 250th birthday we are still fighting to say out loud. Audible have assembled a true dream cast. I cannot wait for the world to hear them.”

Composer Natasha Khan, known as Bat For Lashes, shared: “It was so fun to work on this score, bringing in modern dance elements and mixing them with more archaic melodic sounds. I really fell for the character of Meg and her cohorts; and I am excited for the world to enjoy it.”

Aurelie De Troyer, Head of Regional Content, Europe for Audible commented: “It is thrilling to see Emma Thompson return to Jane Austen’s world and executive produce this production, 30 years after winning an Academy Award for her screenplay of Sense and Sensibility, which was such an iconic movie adaptation. Becoming Meg Dashwood is a wonderful, inventive production, which we know our listeners and Austen fans will tremendously enjoy” 

The Audible Original follows the story of Margaret Dashwood. Marriage is not for Margaret Dashwood. Where others see duty, Margaret sees entrapment and rage. But when an invitation from family friend Mrs Jennings hurls her into the chaotic heart of Covent Garden and Soho, Margaret discovers an intoxicating world beyond afternoon tea and polite society. Here she meets three women who live unapologetically: Nelly, an impulsive actress; Hester, a witch who works in the textile factory; and Inge, a sex worker who loves money and knows exactly how to get it. Here, Margaret’s rage is celebrated, along with her musical talents, and in their fierce company she is reborn as Meg: artist, and woman of hidden fires.

All four women dare to imagine a life dictated by pleasure, politics, and possibility. But such a life demands sacrifice. Especially when Meg’s feelings for Nelly – tender, electric, terrifying – begin to deepen. How does one fall in love, when that love has no name?

Becoming Meg Dashwood follows the previous announcement of Audible’s adaptation of Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice, starring Marisa Abela, Harris Dickinson and Glenn Close.

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Categories: Press Releases

Tags: audible, podcast