The play explores themes of accessibility and inclusion through an engaging and thought-provoking narrative.
Realwheels Theatre's new production, Disability Tour Bus, will be released as a radio play podcast and available for streaming on July 17.
Written for podcast platforms by Amy Amantea and Rena Cohen, Disability Tour Bus follows Shiloh, a young wheelchair-user, as they navigate their first day as a guide for “Funcouver Bus Tours”. Working alongside longtime employee and relentless dad-joker, Hugh, Shiloh struggles to stick to the “Funcouver” script when so much of “Canada's most wheelchair-accessible city” is still so incredibly inaccessible.
People and politics collide until a new passenger, Tess, comes aboard and offers unexpected common ground. The tour must go on! Because there's someone special waiting for Tess at the end. At least she hopes there is.
“As a wheelchair-user, I've heard that whole ‘most accessible city' line a lot,” says Realwheels Co-Artistic Director, Adam Grant Warren. “It's a big part of the reason I moved to Vancouver from the other side of the country. I've been here for sixteen years now. After hundreds of busted elevators, torn up sidewalks and too-full buses, I know Vancouver has a lot of work to do. Access-wise it means well, but it's a mess sometimes. For me, that's one of the most interesting tensions in this project: the attempt to create access when no one thought to ask what those of us who are looking for it actually need.”
Credits for Disability Tour Bus:
Playwrights: Amy Amantea & Rena CohenDirector: Rena CohenDramaturg: Dennis FoonProducer: Jordyn WoodStage Manager: Kayleigh SandomirskySound Designer/Editor: Malcolm DowPoster Graphic Designer: Marie Hoyt-PariuryPhotographer: Rashi Sethi
Cast:
Lenard Stanga as HUGHCadence Rush Quibell as SHILOHAmy Amantea as TESSMack Gordon as PARKER/TOURIST/DAVECaitlyn Bairstow as FEMALE VOICES (various)Ian Hanlin as MALE VOICES (various)Lauren Jackson as FEMALE VOICES (various)
Listen at www.realwheels.ca
Photo credit: Rashi Sethi
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