With the mission of using live performance to express and educate around the disability experience, Realwheels Theatre is back with its 20th season.

The local theatre troupe, which was founded in 2003 by James Sanders, kicks off its 2023/2024 program with the Playwriting Circle on September 16; led by Natasha Nadir, the circle will coax plays out of aspiring writers, with excerpts being read via Zoom in December.

The theatre’s 20th anniversary season also includes the commissioning of a new play called Saturday Night At Axles by Realwheels’ new artistic associate Adam Grant Warren. Currently in development, the show follows wheelchair user and travel YouTube sensation Ramona as she returns to the only accessible bar in downtown St. John’s. She claims she’s there to record a homecoming video for her followers, but as the night goes on, the truth unfolds.

Things wrap up with the radio play Disability Tour Bus in June 2024. Directed by former Realwheels artistic director Rena Cohen, it’s the story of a young wheelchair user who gets a job as a tour guide.

As always, art is not only a great equalizer, but a great educator. Realwheels is truly exemplary of that.