Queens Theatre Presents EMILY DRIVER'S GREAT RACE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE!

Queens Theatre (QT) and The Museum, Arts & Culture Access Consortium (MAC) announced today that A.A. Brenner and Gregg Mozgala's EMILY DRIVER'S GREAT RACE THROUGH TIME AND SPACE! will receive a virtual play reading on July 29 at 2:00 PM ET. Directed by Evan T. Cummings, the cast includes Thomas Ellenson, Anthony Lopez, Nora Brigid Monahan, Alejandra Ospina, and Jessy Yates.

The play follows the story of a young girl who has to travel through the space-time continuum to fight the forces of ableism and save disability history!

The reading, to be presented live on Zoom and simulcast on Queens Theatre's website, is presented as a fundraiser to benefit QT's Theatre For All (TFA) initiative and will be the culminating event of MAC's four-part ADA30 celebration. Viewers are encouraged to make donations via the Queens Theatre website at www.queenstheatre.org.

The play was originally commissioned and produced by La Jolla Playhouse and presented with National Disability Theatre in 2019-2020 for La Jolla Playhouse's 2020 POP Tour. This month, it was selected for the Kilroys 2020 list honoring canceled or postponed plays due to the Covid-19 Pandemic written by Women, Trans, and Non-Binary writers in the American Theatre.

"I was originally inspired by a social media post about Bobbie Lea Bennett, a disabled transgender woman who drove from San Diego to Washington, D.C., in 1978 to demand that Medicaid pay for their gender affirmation surgery," said Gregg Mozgala, co-author and Queens Theatre Director of Inclusion. "Immediately, I knew I wanted A.A. (Brenner who co-wrote the piece), to help me tell this story. While developing the piece we realized Bobbie's story was happening concurrently with watershed events to secure rights and equality for the larger Disabled Community. Emily Driver highlights stories like Bennett's, and other events in the Disability Rights Movement that led up to the signing of the ADA in 1990, including the 504 sit-ins and the Denver ADAPT bus protests."

"Theatre For All" (TFA) is an initiative that aims to increase and improve the representation and engagement of the Disabled community in the performing arts. Launched by Queens Theatre in 2017, Theatre For All has produced works by and with disabled writers and performers, provided intensive workshops for early career disabled theatre professionals, hosted national conferences and convenings, and expanded accessibility services at Queens Theatre. Co-author Gregg Mozgala leads the TFA program in his role of Director of Inclusion at Queens Theatre. MAC is thrilled to be supporting this important initiative to advance the pipeline of Disabled artists and theatre professionals into creative careers.

The reading will feature on-screen captions and American Sign Language interpretation. The stream will remain available for viewing until August 1, 2020. More information about the reading can be found at www.queenstheatre.org.