Applied Mechanics' 'Other Orbits' alien show headed to Philadelphia's Standby Stages, July 9-22

You can go beyond our universe and explore Other Orbits, the latest immersive experience from Applied Mechanics.

MK Tuomanen, one of the co-creators, describes it as a really sci-fi world.

"It's a devising theatre company, so we write all our own pieces and they're installations," says Tuomanen.

Tuomanen says that because you walk through the play, it enables you to observe all these different stories happening simultaneously.

The team of co-creators started working on the alien species during the pandemic.

"We made a reality TV show, in part, to prep for this live performance," says Tuomanen.

The installation is premiering at Standby Stages in Kensington.

"Other Orbits is a piece about a bunch of aliens who are trying to do a form of collective governance," says Tuomanen. Governance is done "partly through diplomacy, and partly through a party."

The setting of the piece is a planet named Dthlorp, which Tuomanen says is "a failed human colony," but now the inhabitants are all gonna try to get along.

There are interesting characters, like Tuomanen's part, which they describe as "a flirty bacteria."

There are also puppets, one of which is voiced by Anthony Martinez-Briggs, one of the co-creators of Other Orbits.

"Mic R. Phone is a sentient microphone," says Martinez-Briggs, who adds the microphone uses they/them pronouns.

Elizabeth Atkinson is another one of the co-creators and a composer for Other Orbits.

She says some of the sounds for Mic R. Phone are a lot beat-driven, but the different species on the planet all have different tastes in music.

"And it's a whole planet that we're trying to represent," she says.

Martinez-Briggs says this planet they've created is a big experiment and that these beings are seeking understanding of one another and of themselves.

Tuomanen says they're asking the question, "How do we take such different people and make a world that's going to be equitable for everybody -- where everybody feels seen?"

"This is an opportunity for us to imagine what a world can look like, a world that we want to live in," says Martinez-Briggs.

"You get to really interact with all of these pieces of the world and go on your own journey," Tuomanen says of the installation.

Applied Mechanics' Other Orbits runs July 9-22 at Standby Stages in Philadelphia.

Applied Mechanics' Other Orbits | Tickets
Standby Stages
2033 E. Silver Street, Philadelphia, PA 19134