Remote Theater to Present A Reading of MANATEE ON MARS
Two theater organizations join forces to present the play on Saturday September 26.
On the anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act (ADA), two theater organizations join forces on Saturday September 26 ( 2PM Pacific, 5PM Eastern) to virtually present award-winning playwright Tanya Shaffer's MANATEE ON MARS, a dramedy about the struggles that children on the spectrum and their families face in the American school system.
Remote Theater, a new theater group born in the pandemic and dedicated to developing new plays, and the nationally renowned Playwrights Foundation, are partnering to present the first public reading of this play following a 4 week development workshop under Remote's new play development series, Remote Studio.
The reading is directed by Giovanni Rodriguez, featuring original music by award-winning composer Rinde Eckert with a cast that includes actors Catherine Castellanos*, Samrat Chakrabarti*, Anna Ishida*, Ethan Jacobs, Adrian N. Roberts*, Alicia Piemme Nelson*, Daniel Shaffer-Green, and Marin Van Young. (*AEA) One Reading Only: Saturday September 26: 2PM Pacific, 5PM Eastern FREE REGISTRATION LINK: https://bit.ly/3kaavy8
MANATEE ON MARS tells the story of Cody, a 12-year-old boy on the autism spectrum who makes sense of the world via his favorite cartoon, The Adventures of Floaty Potato; his estranged parents, Margo and Dan; and a wealthy family, the Briars, who are trying to force Cody out of their daughter's public school.
"Playwrights Foundation is excited to partner with Remote Theater to support PF alum Tanya Shaffer's new play," remarks Jessica Bird Beza, Executive Artistic Director of Playwrights Foundation. "We have a distinct opportunity right now to partner with Remote Theater and lift up Tanya's voice on a national level highlighting a very important story that is rarely told."
"We are inspired by the commitment that Playwrights Foundation is showing in supporting Tanya and her bold new play, which deftly navigates comedy and drama, fantasy and everyday life, including the harsh reality of failing support systems for children with special needs," says Giovanni Rodriguez, founder of Remote Theater. "On the 30th anniversary of the ADA, we are still living in a world shot through with systemic bias. Theatrical storytelling helps us to understand big social challenges in ways that are psychologically and emotionally truthful as well as entertaining."To register free for MANATEE ON MARS on Sat. 9/26, please go to: https://bit.ly/3kaavy8
Since May 2020, when Remote Theater produced a virtually staged reading of Naomi Wallace's Obie-Award Winning ONE FLEA SPARE, it has experimented with a medium that combines cinematic acting values with the excitement of live theater. It has also commissioned original musical scores to enhance the experience of virtual theater so that it sits in a new category of theatrical storytelling.
MANATEE ON MARS has received developmental support from the HBMG Foundation's National Winter Playwrights Retreat. Learn more at tanyashaffer.com.
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