Now, plays and drams as audiobooks, courtesy Storytel

Team L&M

As pandemic took a toll on theatre and drama performances, both artistes as well as the audience were missing the good old days of live shows. In a bid to bridge this gap, Audiobook and ebook streaming app Storytel has come up with audiobooks on plays. A play through an audiobook will give theatre and drama enthusiasts the experience of being right in front of the stage watching a live show.

There are two kind of plays – printed and staged plays for which audio rights are acquired and the plays written directly for audio. These include Tughlaq by Girish Karnad, Khamosh Adalat Jaari Hai by Vijay Tendulkar, Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya O Jamyai Nai by Asghar Wajahat, Dhruvswamini by Jaishankar Prasad, among others.

The audiobook plays were recorded under the supervision of theatre doyens like Bharti Sharma.

Talking about her experience of recording the plays for Storytel, theatre actor/director Priyanka Sharma says, “Working for an audiobook is a different experience altogether. Most of us work in audio-visual medium and on stage or in a film and hear voices and see pictures; but here the challenge for an actor is to create his own sound in such a way that a picture is formed in the mind of the listener. The hardness or softness of that character should be known by the texture of his voice. Through breath and sound fluctuations the state of mind of the character should be known. Getting this impression is very interesting and challenging for any artiste. That is why it is fun to work in this medium; every day there is some new challenge to overcome. And, I think it is very interesting and refreshing for the listener as well.”