• Heart

  • By: Jade Anouka
  • Narrated by: Jade Anouka
  • Length: 1 hr and 12 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (373 ratings)

Access a growing selection of included Audible Originals, audiobooks, and podcasts.
You will get an email reminder before your trial ends.
Audible Plus auto-renews for $7.95/mo after 30 days. Upgrade or cancel anytime.
Heart  By  cover art

Heart

By: Jade Anouka
Narrated by: Jade Anouka
Try for $0.00

$7.95 a month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $5.57

Buy for $5.57

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

Heart, a truly poetic new play, explores the maxim that 'Every new story begins as another one ends'.

Written and performed by London-based actor and poet Jade Anouka (His Dark Materials), Heart introduces us to a woman who finds herself married and divorced at age 28. As she begins the process of piecing her life together, she confronts the insecurities and self-imposed boundaries that have always held her back. In the process, she discovers love in the last place—and with the last person—she expected. Directed by Ola Ince, this world premiere production—dedicated to the misfits and 'others'—takes the listeners on a powerful and relatable journey, one that demonstrates that remarkable things can happen when we follow our instincts and boldly take a chance.

Content warning: Listener discretion is advised.

Produced in association with Kate Pakenham Productions. Original music composed and performed by Renell Shaw.

Additional original music and sound design by Fitz Patton.

Portions of this audio drama contain mature language and themes.

©2022 Jade Anouka (P)2022 AO Media LLC

About the Creator and Performer

Jade Anouka recently appeared on our screens as Ruta Skadi in HBO/BBC's His Dark Materials, Channel 5’s The Drowning, ITV’s Cleaning Up and Turn Up Charlie on Netflix. In theatre Jade just finished performing in Cock on the West End and has played the title roles in Hampstead’s Olivier nominated The Phlebotomist, Queen Margaret at The Royal Exchange and Romeo & Juliet at Shakespeare’s Globe. She has also starred in Moon On A Rainbow Shawl at The National Theatre and in the Donmar Warehouse Shakespeare Trilogy where she played Mark Antony in Julius Caesar, Hotspur in Henry IV and Ariel in The Tempest. All three productions transferred to St Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. As a poet Jade has performed regularly around London including The Southbank Centre, The Roundhouse and various Sofar Sounds events. She recently recorded her poetry at Abbey Road studios alongside Sam Smith for their song "My Oasis." She’s had writing work commissioned by Paines Plough, Audible UK, Stylist Magazine, Broccoli Content, The Young Vic, The Old Vic and BBC Radio 4 where she wrote and performed her short story "This Sunday." Jade did a TEDxTalk "Being Black, Being a Woman, Being 'Other,’" and wrote, directed and co-starred in her award winning short film "Her & Her" for BBC’s Culture In Quarantine. Both can be watched in full on YouTube. Her debut play, HEART, combines her love of writing and acting and she is so hyped that it is making its world premiere in New York, a city that she loves!

About the Director

Ola Ince graduated from Rose Bruford College in 2010 with a First Class Honours BA in Theatre Directing. Ola is a critically acclaimed and award winning director. In 2012 she was the Borris Karloff Bursary recipient. In 2015 Ola became a BBC Performing Arts Fellow, Resident Associate Director at the Lyric Hammersmith Theatre and Red Women of the Year nominee. In 2016 she became the Genesis Future Director Award winner and Artistic Associate at Lyric Hammersmith and Theatre Royal Stratford East. In 2018 she won the h100 Theatre & Performance Award. In 2019 she was named one of the Elle list’s "50 Game Changers of Now." Ola was named as one of The Stage 25 in January 2022: "theatremakers to watch out for in 2022 and beyond." Ola has been an Artistic Associate at the Royal Court Theatre and one of three recipients of the 2020/2021 National Theatre Sir Peter Hall Bursary.

Featured Article: Best of the Year—The 10 Best Audible Theater Listens of 2022


Audible Theater takes what you thought you knew about going to a play and turns it on its head. With a vast array of extraordinary voices that go beyond the stage (and the book), we're delivering a new vision of what theater can be. Some of the best productions this year were recorded in front of a live audience at our own Minetta Lane Theatre, while others were honed and polished in our studios, created strictly to be heard.

What listeners say about Heart

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    246
  • 4 Stars
    60
  • 3 Stars
    32
  • 2 Stars
    21
  • 1 Stars
    14
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    254
  • 4 Stars
    55
  • 3 Stars
    14
  • 2 Stars
    8
  • 1 Stars
    8
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    220
  • 4 Stars
    52
  • 3 Stars
    34
  • 2 Stars
    15
  • 1 Stars
    16

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Breathtakingly beautiful

This listen felt like a gift. It is a beautifully written and performed memoir. I’m sad it’s over

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

💜

Thank you Jade
It’s a beautiful book
I understand it completely
And it’s been 20 years now we went through this
My wife and I did raise a beautiful boi
I still have the same conversations with my mother and I still see the disappointment in her closed eyes lowered head while I blow dry and style her hair weekly
But I can’t make her see
Even after allllll these 20 years
We were made for each other
✌🏽S

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Kara Stratford

Powerful. Impactful. Didn’t anticipate the Twist , but it made the story and presentation even more compellingly unique,

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

lovely

This was a really lovely short story and storytelling. I enjoyed the narrator too. thank you.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Very Insightful and Relatable

I loved it so much I felt like she was telling my story. Hopefully she shares more in the near future I would entertain them ALL.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Heart

Didn’t know how would feel about this one.
I’m a fan of “Spoken Word “
But I’ve never experienced it in book form. I was pleasantly surprised. Great story! Loved Jade’s voice, she held me captive.
I’m forever a fan. Continued Success Jade Anouka.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

She was speaking MY heart

Jade,

THANK YOU. Thank you, thank you, thank you. You told so much of my story. I loved this!!! And the passion and talent shown here is amazing!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Related to this so much

I honestly selected this on a whim without readying what it was even about and it turned out to be the best thing I’ve ever listened to on Audible. I didn’t realize I would relate to it on almost every level. Thank you to the author for writing and performing this… it was always stick with me on my own journey!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Beautifully Written and Narrated

Heart-touching. This is something that is best read by the writer, so I'm glad that was recognized. Such beauty and breadth captured succinctly and lyrically.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic

A beautiful theatre poem that is excellently written and powerfully performed. Yes to love and acceptance.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!