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Accessible Audiencing: Manning

Our Accessible Audiencing partnership with Crowded Fire Theater was such a joyful success. Regina kicked things off by tabling on the first masking day, and on Saturday we all joined together outside in the sun, distributing free PPE, meeting audience members, and talking about why masking and access still matter. So many people joined our Why Mask photo project, and their portraits are now part of the gallery.

Before the performance, Mylo led a haptics tour and audio description preshow that included the actors, giving audience members an intimate way to experience the space, performers, costumes, and production before the play began. We loved how personal and accessible the entire presentation felt — and we especially loved the branded masks!

Crowded Fire has leadership that genuinely cares about access and works to center both physical and financial accessibility. It was a pleasure to partner with a theater willing to build access into the experience rather than treating it as an add-on. Most of all, we were so glad to share the performance with our disabled friends and community. This is what Accessible Audiencing can feel like: welcoming, social, thoughtful, and fun.

Why Maak at Crowded Fire Theater

https://padlet.com/callingupjustice/Why_Mask

Accessible Audiencing Archive: Crowded Fire Theater’s Manning

Saturday, Sept 19 2pm | Potrero Stage | 1695 18th St San Francisco, CA 94107

Experience Manning by Benjamin Benne and Directed by Adin Walker with access built into the heart of the performance. This special event is a co-production of Calling Up Justice, Crowded Fire Theater, Gravity Access, and Disability Justice Culture Club. For this production, we’re also working with The Center for Independent Living, SF Disability Culture Center for promotion and audience development. We’re providing a free ticket block for Sept 19 2026. Sign up for tickets below!

ACCESS PERFORMANCES!

Thursday, September 10 – 8 PM: Preview • Mask Required Performance
Thursday, September 17 – 8 PM: Post-Show Panel Discussion
Saturday, September 19 – 3 PM: Live Audio Described Performance and Haptic Access Tour (2pm)

Access Features

  • Live Audio Description and Haptic Access Tour on Saturday, September 19 by Mylo Cardona of Gravity Access Services for visually impaired audience members. Haptic Access Tour begins at 1 hour before curtain.
  • Audio description is a live audio track spoken by a professional audio describer to audience members with visual impairments through a wireless headset system. It provides clear and engaging descriptions of the meaningful visual details of a performance.
  • Haptic access tours (20-30 minutes) are a live pre-show tour that allows patrons to experience—through touch and their own movement— the space, performers, costumes, and objects, in addition to key movement elements in the performance.
  • ASL Interpretation on Saturday, September 19 arranged by Calling Up Justice digital resident Regina Hockert
  • Masks Required
  • PPE Table with free masks and COVID tests
  • Social Story: a plain language guide to the play, the space, and what to expect or discover

Social Story: Accessible Audiencing: Manning

a plain language guide to the play, the space, and what to expect or discover

About Crowded Fire Theater

Crowded Fire Theater produces poetic, bold works that reflect the diverse world in which we live, moving toward liberation through artistic expression. Crowded Fire Theater (CFT) is a critically acclaimed company for new play production on the West Coast. Known for developing and producing poetic, bold, relevant works by up-and-coming playwrights, CFT contributes to the creation of a contemporary canon that reflects the diverse world in which we live. Operating with a shared leadership model, CFT produces one to three mainstage shows each season, and actively supports the creation of high-quality contemporary theater through commissions, in-house workshops, a playwright-in-residence, and an annual free public reading series. Their Leadership Team works in deep collaboration with an ensemble of Resident Artists comprising top Bay Area actors, designers, directors, and dramaturgs. This group, with its multiplicity of interests and ideas, as well as the dedication and talent of its members, represents one of the company’s most significant strengths. In their 25-year history, CFT has cultivated rich, long-term relationships with Bay Area audiences, serving as a true regional home for fierce, new plays.

About the Theater Space

The performance is at the Potrero Stage, located at 1695 18th St in San Franscisco

  • Navigation
    • The venue does not have its own onsite parking lot, so you must use street parking or a nearby commercial garage
    • Street Parking: Free street parking is available around Potrero Hill, but spaces are very limited and fill up fast during weekends and show nights.
    • Walking to the VenueFrom Rhode Island Street / Design District: Head toward 18th Street. Walk up the hill (be prepared for a slight incline, as Potrero Hill streets can be steep) until you reach 1695 18th Street between Connecticut and Arkansas streets.
    • Arrive Early: Give yourself 10 to 15 extra minutes to park your car and make the uphill walk to the lobby before curtain time.
    • PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION: Buses that come closest to Potrero Stage are 19 Polk (De Haro St. and 18th St. stop), 22 Fillmore (18th St. and Connecticut St. stop), and 33 Ashbury (Potrero Ave and Mariposa St stop). The space is a 20-minute walk from the 16th Street BART Station. Please note that this part of San Francisco is very hilly, so the walks from these stops can be rigorous.
  • Outside the building:
    • The outside of Potrero Stage features a clean, contemporary design integrated directly into the street-level facade of a larger residential artist loft complex (the Goodman 2 Arts Complex)
    • There is a bold, vibrant blue Potrero Stage branding and signs featured prominently in the large windows to help you spot the venue right from the sidewalk
    • The Climb: If you park or arrive from the flat Design District, Showplace Square, or down by the freeway (near Rhode Island St or De Haro St), you will face a rigorous uphill walk to get to the theater
    • The Flat Crest: Once you cross over Arkansas Street, 18th Street flattens out significantly right where the theater sits (between Arkansas and Connecticut streets)
  • Lobby area:
    • You will enter through the glass doors.
    • The lobby is an intimate hallway space with some bench seating and a water fountain
    • ADA Compliance: The facility features wheelchair-accessible restroom accommodations to ensure full accessibility for all theater patrons.
    • All-Gender Accessibility: The restrooms are not separated by gender. They are designed to be welcoming and inclusive to guests of all gender identities.
    • Layout and Stalls: The configuration features a multi-stall setup where everyone shares the common sink and mirror area. Individual stalls have full, private doors
  • Inside the theater:
    • The Seating: The auditorium holds 99 cushioned seats arranged on a steeply tiered riser. This stadium-style configuration guarantees excellent sightlines, meaning you will have a clear view over the heads of anyone sitting in front of you
    • The first two rows will be reserved for floor seating accessible to wheelchairs and cane users.
    • The Stage: It features a flexible 20×20 foot performance deck that sits close to the front row. Because there is no orchestra pit or massive gap separating the actors from the audience, the room has an engaging, close-knit energy.
    • The Atmosphere: True to black box style, the room features dark walls, dim lighting, and an industrial 16.6-foot high overhead grid holding an advanced LED lighting system. The space is fully updated with modern climate control and air purification systems, keeping the room comfortable even when the house is entirely full

What to Expect During the Show

  • The story is around 90 minutes with no intermission
  • The performance deals directly with death, grief, family relationships, masculinity, love, and healing. Grief is present throughout the experience, but the play also makes room for humor, absurdity, tenderness, and the unexpected.
  • The storytelling uses puppetry, movement, live music, sound, lighting, and theatrical transformation to create its world

Accessibility and Comfort

  • You can arrive early to get comfortable in the space.
  • There will be a table with PPE and free masks
  • If you need help, staff and CUJ Access Doula’s will be available.
  • You can leave the theater at any time if you need a break and return quietly.
  • The theater is intimate, so you will be close to the actors.

About the play Manning

Following the death of their wife and mother, a father and his two sons spread her ashes in their backyard garden. When a giant zucchini mysteriously appears overnight, each family member begins to discover a unique language for grief through their encounters with the supernatural vegetable. As the extraordinary takes root in the ordinary, they must determine whether they can also cultivate a shared vocabulary for healing together. Blending puppetry, movement, and live music, Manning is a soaring new play on the strangeness of death and the stories we inherit about masculinity.

About Accessible Audiencing

Accessible Audiencing is a Calling Up Justice program that brings access-centered planning to cultural events. We provide site visits, coordinate with partners, arrange access services, and help with audience development — so everyone can participate fully. If you want to bring Accessible Audiencing to your production, contact us here. Accessible Audiencing is more than accommodations — it’s a community-powered approach to attending cultural events together with dignity, safety, and joy.

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