After five years of DIY experimental theater, Applied Mechanics is now grappling with the 501c3 question. Should they make the move toward official non-profit status? If they do, will they continue to make theater on their own terms?Or will they become part of the machine?Their latest Philly Fringe offering, “Overseers,” presents a dystopian future, where the forces of institutional science, religion and bureaucracy lord over creative impulses.“I definitely don’t think it’s an accident that we made a show about this stuff at this moment,” says Rebecca Wright, who directed “Overseers” and helped to write it with the six other members of AM. “Right now, as a group, we have big questions about power structures, sustainability and control.”At least in part, those questions are arising due to the troupe’s success. Last year’s offering, “Portmanteau,” was a Fringe hit, allowing the Mechanics to think bigger for the next project.Created for well under $5,000, “Overseers” is part art-installation, part narrative play, presented in an expansive industrial space on Washington Avenue. The audience is invited to walk-through Maria Shaplin’s set design, interacting with characters and even helping with special effects along the way.AM developed the piece in just under three months, borrowing ideas and language from a disparate assortment of authors from Don DeLillo to Andy Warhol.“The script," says Wright, "is a collage of original writing from company members and sections of text that were borrowed or stolen, depending on how you look at it."
