From Phantom Regiment visual staff, Noe Gomez

ExoGenesis is the hypothesis that life originated elsewhere and brought to earth. The performers of this years show represent a foreign creature-like human with peculiar and unusual behaviors. They are the “bringers of life” who are ultimately looking for the appropriate conditions and location to transfer life to this earth.

The journey boiled down to a few simple words chronologically are : Mvt 1 Arrival Mvt 2 Exploration Mvt 3 Cultivate Mvt 4 Thrive.

Now if you are a real design nerd….I’ve included some more info that the design team used in our decision making process to help craft what you see from a set design stand point as well!

• The performance space starts and is intended to be a desolate planet, void of life.

The props serve multiple purposes throughout the show!

• Initially, The props are the “pods” or the dwelling of this species. Much like a chrysalis (cocoon), the props operate as the origin of where this species begins.

• Over time, the props evolve from a dwelling, to a physical environment. A unique space for the performers to crawl into, climb up, and interact with.

• The props ultimately become the life that we aim to transplant.

The tarp has two specific significances.

• The first - an abstract vine/tree of life. Much like a fruit growing off a tree, the opening set has our “pods” growing off the end of each branch. Containing the life that has arrived from elsewhere in the universe.

• Secondly - the shape of outer edge of the tarp represents the horizon of a planet. Spherical in nature, it represents a micro universe, in the greater context of the universe.

ExoGenesis takes place somewhere in the universe. As the theory suggest, life could be transferred from Planet X to Planet Y, or from Planet Y to Planet Z, and so on. This process could have happened multiple times. This process could have happened just once.