When Philadelphia director Rebecca Wright and designer Maria Shaplin founded their immersive theater-based queer collective Applied Mechanics by turning a West Philly apartment into a rustic fishing village, they boldly went to where no performer had gone before.
Since 2009, Applied Mechanics has remade the Napoleonic Wars into mini-opera, created revolutionary feminist punk bands out of grad students and homeless street musicians. And now, with longtime fellow Mechanics Thomas Choinacky, MK Tuomanen and other Philadelphia devisers, their new ‘Other Orbits’ staged interactive installation finds a fantastic alien universe set in the ruins of a failed human colony – “a planet where mutants evolved into cooperative society” right in North Philly.
‘Other Orbits’ runs until July 22 at Standby Stages, 2033 E. Silver Street, where MK Tuomanen spoke to Metro after Applied Mechanics’ first preview.
How has Applied Mechanics evolved since 2009?
Applied Mechanics has changed a lot since our inception, but what definitely remains is our basic playfulness, curiosity and a desire to tell multiple stories braided together to create a collaborative tapestry. We love to talk about communities, movements, or collectives rather than individual hero stories. We also became more explicit about our politics as a queer, anti-capitalist, pro Black, pro Indigenous, intersectionally feminist group. Our art is delightful, strange and magical because it calls to the world we want to create — one that values imagination and connection over power and control.
What can you say about welcoming new members to Applied Mechanics in time for ‘Other Orbits’?
We were very lucky to invite new collaborators into this project including Justin Jain, Anthony Martinez-Briggs, Rich Bradford, eppchez si-yo yes, and sound designer Elizabeth Atkinson. We knew we wanted this project to involve a lot of voices. ‘Other Orbits’, is a great example of life imitating art. The cacophony of the alien creatures on the imaginary PlaNet trying to negotiate their needs through diplomacy echoes the messy, emotional, bizarre process of collective art making.
Every person in this cast writes their own character, and you will hear in the writing the wry deadpan of Justin, the cosmic emcee stylings of Anthony, the love-call of Rich and the speculative poetics of eppchez mingled in the script with the voices of the Mechanicians. We are a big, messy family all singing in harmony and we love it.
How did ‘Other Orbits’ wind up as series?
The piece was gearing up for development in March 2020. ‘Other Orbits’ had a big, in-person rehearsal that month with all our collaborators and shortly afterwards, lockdown started. We were heartbroken because we were all really excited about the material — the working title at the time was ‘Middle Management.’ We were contemplating what it is to care for both children and our elders in a time of ecological crisis — the position we as elder millennials find ourselves in.
While we knew we had to postpone till it was safe to perform in person, we didn’t want to give up on working on the piece. So, we decided to make lots of projects leading up to this show, all involving the same world and characters: a radio show, a board game, an album, a piece of visual art in the mail, a film — what ended up being our spoof reality tv show Real PlaNet Life — that we got to show in 2022’s Fringe.
That was really exciting and so much fun; all of that work making our remote offerings has now gone into making these fully-fleshed out characters who are playing with audiences in Kensington this month. And if you love them, you can always go back and experience all the music, games, movies, etc. that we made about them in pandemic.
What does a “Pee-wee’s Playhouse meets the UN Summit science fiction extravaganza” look and sound like when envisioned by a multiracial collective of queer and genderqueer theater artists?
It’s a wild adventure. The audience comes into a gorgeous alien environment, and then enters an official chamber set up for some kind of meeting. The alien creatures enter in huge, larger than life costumes, glowing with lights internal to their creature bodies, some spiny, some round, some covered in lumpy pink blubber. They then proceed to begin their meeting, complete with subcommittee reports, points of order, etc, and the audience is part of that meeting.
There is also an adjoining party space where the creatures, when they can’t resolve something in the meeting, put it all out there on the dance floor. Audience members, if they want to participate, can help resolve conflicts between creatures, or dance it out with them, or even get “genetically altered” and become a mutant like them.
As a group of queer artists in Philadelphia, all of us have had to navigate conflict to keep our performing ensembles intact, our bands intact, our activist groups intact, our queer families intact, our collective houses intact. We make family through our art and through the bonds of queer community. So, this meeting of the aliens is really partly poking fun at ourselves, and talking about all the effort and diplomacy that goes into holding space for everyone’s needs, making large alternative families and allowing for individuals to come and go within those structures.
The writing of ‘Other Orbits’ is as eclectic as those groups, with each ensemble member writing their own character and finding their way through these questions. And it’s pretty hilarious, though very earnest and heartfelt… We took over an entire film studio and transformed it into the world of ‘Other Orbits’. It truly felt like à terraforming project — so much goes into making an immersive set! And the show takes place in two immaculately designed spaces — a council chamber and a party room. So, the audience can choose to sit in one or move through both colorful alien environments.
For information and tickets, visit appliedmechanics.us
