Matthew Rhys Performs PLAYING BURTON On Audible

Emmy Award winner Matthew Rhys's (Perry Mason, The Americans) Audible Original performance of the award-winning one-man show, Playing Burton, debuts on Thursday, January 28th exclusively on Audible. Rhys stars in this classic show about international star of stage and screen, Richard Burton.

While studying acting at the Royal Academy in London, Rhys saw Playing Burton on stage in his late teens. Already an enormous fan of Burton, the classic show made an impression on him, and Rhys has kept the play with him for decades. When the COVID-19 pandemic hit last year, he began ruminating on the play and how he could get involved. That's when he pitched Audible on producing the one-man show for our millions of listeners to enjoy.

"The reason I wanted to act was because of Richard Burton. Since first seeing his incredible performance in Look Back in Anger to still listening to his audio of Hamlet and Under Milkwood. He blazed the trail for us all and showed us it was possible."

-Rhys on why Playing Burton is so personal to him

Written by Mark Jenkins, Playing Burton offers a penetrating look at the notorious Richard Burton's life, from growing up in an impoverished mining community in South Wales to becoming one of the greatest performers of his generation. Following his passionate though tempestuous love affair with Elizabeth Taylor and his tragic - and very public - battle with alcoholism, Playing Burton is a soulful exploration of fame, ambition and identity told from the perspective of the megastar who experienced it all.

Rhys joins stars Jake Gyllenhaal, William Jackson Harper, Carey Mulligan, André Holland, Blair Underwood, John Leguizamo and many more in bringing their work to Audible Theater.