A theatre company driven by D/disability-identified artists is ready to take on the world with a new name. Glitch Theatre, previously known as Realwheels Theatre, will launch its 2025-26 season with Faye’s Room at Vancity Culture Lab (1895 Venables Street) from November 8 to 23.
Alex K. Masse’s play is about an autistic lesbian, Faye Murphy, who works at a queer café. According to a Glitch Theatre news release, Faye has an ability to disappear into a magical sensory room. But after becoming trapped there with an irritating heterosexual co-worker named Chase—the son of the café founder—Faye finds that they have something in common.
“It’s our first play as Glitch Theatre, and the first mainstage production we’ve put up since the pandemic,” Glitch co-artistic director Adam Grant Warren said in the news release. “It’s Alex’s first produced work, and the first time we’ve backed a D/disability-identified playwright with a team of a majority of neurodiverse directors, designers, and cast.
“That kind of representation—artists with lived experience of D/disability leading from multiple key positions and embedding access practice in creative process—that’s the heart of Glitch Theatre,” he added. “And Faye’s Room felt like the perfect opportunity to really embody that value right out of the gate.”
Mily Mumford and Angelica Schwartz co-direct the play. There are four cast members: Hailey Conner (Faye), Mason Temple (Chase), Sabrina Symington (Mina), and Marlee Michael Pearl (Ari).
Glitch isn’t a flaw
Just over a year ago, Warren talked to Pancouver about the company’s decision to develop a new name after 21 years as Realwheels. One of the board’s key considerations was expanding awareness of the dimensions of disability.
“I so appreciate where Realwheels has emerged from and the desire that emerged out of it,” Warren told Pancouver at the time. “But the lens on disability is much broader. And it’s not defined by wheelchair users or mobility aid anymore.”
He noted by 2024, Realwheels was already presenting a radio play, Disability Tour Bus, starring legally blind theatre artist and photographer Amy Amantea. Moreover, Warren acknowledged the growing interest in including people on the autism spectrum in theatrical productions.
This week in a joint statement, Warren, managing co-artistic director Shawn Macdonald, and company producer Jordyn Wood explained the new name this way.
“Glitch isn’t a flaw—it’s the spark of what comes next,” the trio declared. “For us, the Glitch is where artistry meets accessibility. It’s where D/disability-identified artists take the things that make the world work against them—against us—and turn those things into engines of creativity, innovation, and ingenious life.
“As a digital metaphor, ‘glitch’ critiques rigid societal norms around ability and embodiment, signaling that our company doesn’t simply operate within existing systems—it questions, rewires, and remixes them,” they added. “By embracing what is traditionally seen as a flaw, Glitch Theatre becomes an act of radical redefinition, transforming perceived error into a vibrant source of artistic possibility.”
Event details
Glitch Theatre will launch its 2025-26 season with the world premiere of Faye’s Room at Vancity Culture Lab from November 8 to 23. Tickets go on sale on September 12. For more information, visit the Glitch Theatre website.
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