Debut Audio Drama “Relief Society” Available May 28 on subscript.fm
NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT — A Connecticut production studio is releasing original audio dramas as a deliberate first step toward stage and screen production — using the podcast format to validate new plays before investing in full productions.
Winn City Studios launches May 28 with Subscript (subscript.fm), a podcast of original audio dramas, and its debut title Relief Society — a seven-episode play about two Mormon women who host a feel-good podcast and decide to help the children of Gaza. The show rehearsed at Yale Ventures and recorded at the Center for Studies in Music Technology at the Yale School of Music in a single day, and premieres at the Yale Innovation Summit on May 28.
“The friction of getting a new play produced is enormous,” said Jonathan Winn, founder of Winn City Studios. “Audio lets us put serious theatrical work in front of an audience quickly, cheaply, and globally — and find out if the story has legs before we invest in a full production. The podcast is the proof of concept. The stage or screen is the destination.”
Winn City Studios plans to release up to fifty original audio dramas over five years, each written by a professional playwright and performed by a full cast. Every title is released free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and subscript.fm. Paid subscribers at $6/month or $60/year receive behind-the-scenes content, cast bios, and a Q&A with the playwright.
Relief Society received 1,161 casting submissions for eight roles through Breakdown Services. The cast includes Caitlin Duffy, Ria-Mae Binaoro, Erwin P. Falcon, Will Jeffries, Brandon Meeks, Kkuumba Siegell, Laura Cardona, and Juri Henley-Cohn. Audio engineering by Jon-Michael Taylor.
What collaborators are saying:
“Relief Society represents exactly the kind of risk-taking we want to support. Jonathan has found a genuinely new way to bring serious theatrical work to a wider audience.”
— McAdory Lipscomb, Jr., TheaterWorks New Milford
“Winn City Studios is a model for how Connecticut artists can build sustainable creative businesses. Relief Society proves the concept.”
— Frances Pollock, CollectiveCT / MOC Innovations
About Subscript
Subscript is a podcast of original audio dramas. Every story is written for the ear — no stage directions, no action lines, just drama. New stories when they drop. subscript.fm
About Winn City Studios
Winn City Studios is a Connecticut-based audio drama production studio developing original plays for global audiences through audio, validating intellectual property for stage, screen, and beyond.
About Jonathan Winn
Jonathan Winn is a playwright, director, and producer based in Connecticut. He is the founder and CEO of Winn City Studios, the creator of Subscript, the co-founder and Co-Artistic Director of Thrown Stone Theatre Company, and a CollectiveCT Fellow at Yale Ventures.
Relief Society is available May 28th at subscript.fm and wherever you listen to podcasts.
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, and premieres at the Yale Innovation Summit CollectiveCT Showcase on May 28.
, and premieres at the Yale Innovation Summit CollectiveCT Showcase on May 28.
