Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads

Realwheels Theatre unleashes three bold and original scripts-in-development as part of their play reading series, Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads. Created by playwrights who identify with disability, the scripts include Vascular Necrosis by Jordyn Wood, Faye’s Room by Alex Masse, and Saturday Nights at Axles by Adam Grant Warren.
 
“With the transition to new leadership at Realwheels, we asked ourselves what we wanted this next evolution of the company to be”, says Adam Grant Warren, series playwright and Realwheels Theatre’s Co-Artistic Director. “We knew there needed to be more original work from a broader spectrum of lived disability experience; we knew we had to give that work the time and focus it deserves; and we knew we wanted to fully engage our audiences with it. Not just with whatever ‘final product’, but with the actual process. To feed in. To come back and see them change. We think Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads is the perfect place to start making that investment, and we hope folks are as excited as we are to see these pieces grow.”
 
Below are the full programming details for play reading series Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads, taking place May 9 to 11 in Yaletown at the Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, with a cozy launch party on Wednesday, May 8 at 7:00pm to kick things off.

 
May 9 at 7:00pm | Vascular Necrosis by Jordyn Wood
In association with Bramble Theatre Collective
Director – Arthi Chandra
Dramaturg – Mily Mumford
Tickets are $10 at https://bit.ly/4cshJcN 
Vascular Necrosis is a disjointed narrative that subverts typical zombie tropes to explore identity, chronic illness, and belonging. Five years ago, Penelope killed herself. Four years ago, she rose from the dead as a man-eating monster. Now, with the help of “de-necrotizers” – medication meant to subdue these man-eating instincts – she gets to rejoin society in the land of the living. But how do you exist in a world you never wanted to be a part of? Vascular Necrosis follows Penelope’s journey as she’s torn between the life she had before, and the after-life she wants to live.
 
 
May 10 at 7:00pm | Faye’s Room by Alex Masse
Presented in association with the frank theatre company
Director – Angelica Schwartz
Dramaturg – Veronique (V) West
Tickets are $10 at https://bit.ly/4cshJcN
Faye’s Room is the story of Faye Buckley, an autistic lesbian who works at a queer cafe… and happens to have the power to summon and hide in a magical sensory room at will. When she becomes trapped in this room with her least favourite co-worker, son of the founder and token heterosexual Chase McLure, an unlikely bond forms, and the two find themselves having a bit more in common than they’d thought. Faye’s Room is about neurodivergent solidarity, intergenerational bonds, and internalized ableism. It thrusts viewers into the autistic lens, a world of living mannequins, traveling rooms, and ghosts.
 
May 11 at 12:30pm | Zombies, Mannequins, and Talking Heads Panel
Facilitated by Davey Samuel Calderon. Join playwrights Alex Masse (Faye’s Room), Adam Grant Warren (Saturday Nights at Axles), and Jordyn Wood (Vascular Necrosis) as they discuss their work and creative process.
Tickets for this event are FREE with RSVP at https://bit.ly/3vtsnPT.
 
May 11 at 7:00pm | Saturday Night at Axles by Adam Grant Warren
Community Partner – Neworld Theatre
Director & Dramaturg – Chelsea Haberlin
Tickets are $10 at https://bit.ly/4cshJcN
When top-tier travel YouTuber and wheelchair-user Ramona Peet finally returns to Axles — the only fully wheelchair accessible bar in all of downtown St John’s — her old friends are right where she left them. She says she’s back to record a come-home video for her (wildly successful) channel, but as the night goes on, the real reason why Ramona wants her old pals on camera comes to light… and forces everyone to answer questions of belonging, identity, and perspective that none of them have ever faced before. Ramona least of all.