An abridged recounting of my Applied Mechanics history, by Thomas Choinacky.
In 2009, through a Facebook message, I was asked by Becky Wright to work on a show called It’s Hard Times at the Camera Blanca. It was a show about a failing circus and we had holed ourselves up into a bar. I was to be a trapeze artist and twin. The show performed at (an actual bar) Murph’s Bar in Northern Liberties during the Fringe. Northern Liberties looked a lot different, that neighborhood (Front and Girard) was not particularly a hopping spot.
That led to Ses Voyages Sauvages. A play in Becky’s apartment. I was the Arctic and gently moseyed around cardboard boxes painted to look like giant ice cubes. After the shows we would get drunk and high in the prairie, which was Becky’s bedroom. This is where Applied Mechanics formed. Becky said something along the lines of “this may be a thing”. And suddenly Becky and Maria got five people tagging in to help: Jess, Mary, John, Kristen, and myself.
Our seven minds together created Portmanteau. A brilliant premise to an immersive play where everything your character needs is in a suitcase… and as a company. We invaded the country for this one from Texas to Maine.
Next came Vainglorious. Getting to play Beethoven is truly a dream. Getting to be unwieldy, frantic, and angry as Napoleon gets coronated was a special experience. Until now, I hadn’t processed that I was the only actor who got to see this epic choreography every night, as I was the one cuing it. I am so thankful for the amazing artists (26 actors!) who said yes to this project and primarily got paid with a home-cooked meal at every rehearsal.
In the midst of this: while on tour I drove a car off the highway during an ice storm, deepened my Polish ancestry with perogie love, and participated in a year of XXX Meeting. Ask me for more details.
Later we did We are Bandits. This show was a big transformational moment for all of us. Where our social practice and beliefs became fully integrated into the performance narratives we were making. Inspired by Pussy Riot being jailed in Russia, we asked: what does a feminist look like today? Myself (during this time) and my character making a dramatic shift away from capitalistic values. All people can be transformed. This is a quote from a manifesto we created for the show: “The search for truth and a constant overcoming of oneself, the overcoming of what you were earlier.” I carry this with me always.
In a twist of fate, we were asked to do a concert to open for Nadya Tolokonnikova one of the three women of Pussy Riot who were jailed! Bandits got to meet one of the activists who inspired its inception. We sang: “I don’t believe in a system that don’t believe in my sister…” and ripped up (faux) money in a church.
And most recently, This is On Record. Studying my own queer ancestry I created a gay archivist living in 1988. My character hadn’t been tested for AIDS because it was easier living without knowing, otherwise it could be a death sentence. During one of the performances an audience member thought the narrative was real. The boundary of human and character had become one. During a quiet moment this audience member came up to me and told me that no one but myself could tell me what’s right. She felt my character’s fear and told me how her daughter is queer and she also fears for their well being. We cried together. I’ve never felt more alive on a stage and so moved by another human.
A deep breath.
There were other Applied Mechanics shows in between too. They all were steps in our process and tested out new ways to collaborate in co-authorship, cooperative, and democratic art making. In a company meeting 5+ years ago, Becky was speaking about the democracy of this company, was where the non-hierarchical structure completely sunk in for me. That the experiment of Applied Mechanics itself is something beyond any one of us. That our entity is a vision for a better world.
I truly cannot say where I would be today without Applied Mechanics. So much of my life has been shaped by the art and radical ideas we have made together. And I hope you will come join me this Saturday, April 13th to toast to our history and the 150 artists who have been involved thus far. I would love to celebrate with you. Solidarity, now and always.
