Will King and Ivy Miller in Waxwing Theatre Company’s Orbit, part of Toronto Fringe 2026. Photo by Barry McCluskey
By Galen Simmons
Do you ever feel alone in the galaxy; as if you’re trapped in an economic system that doesn’t value the individual, only the labour they provide, and no one is looking out for you except yourself?
Playwright and director Sarini Kumarasinghe’s new play, Orbit, produced by Waxwing Theatre Company and presented recently as part of the Toronto Fringe Festival’s 2026 lineup explores that very concept along with the maddening inefficiency and dehumanization of bureaucracy, the financial desperation of the working class and the experiences and expectations immigrants have when they leave their home for a better life elsewhere.
The story centres on Roe (Ivy Miller), a not-so-recent interplanetary immigrant working long hours at a below-minimum-wage cleaning job and trying to make ends meet any way she can. It begins with Roe lost in space on a shuttle that was meant to take her back to her workplace after finishing up with a client, but it has instead flown off course – something Roe only discovers after waking up from an unintentional three-hour nap.
Worried about where she’s going and the strange noises the shuttle is making, as well as getting back to work on time so she’s not accused of stealing her company’s cleaning supplies, she calls Starspeed Systems – the shuttle company – only to find herself in a nearly unending cycle of trying to speak with a human and being transferred by bots to departments that have little if anything to do with her current predicament.
Finally, she connects with a human customer-service agent (Will King) and frustratedly explains what’s happening, only to be met, at first, with calm indifference and a promise he will escalate the complaint to his manager (another bot), even though he knows that won’t help. Roe begs the agent to stay on the line and help her secure rescue, and over the course of the play, the two get the chance to know each other.
As the agent works to find a solution, the two discuss why Roe immigrated in the first place, how they’re both treated by their employers as replaceable and what it means to work long hours for little pay at jobs they don’t like just to survive. Ultimately, the agent discovers Roe’s shuttle is headed for a demolition planet without any humans and no way home.
Learning that Roe is, in fact, a stowaway and will not be retrieved by Starspeed Systems because she is considered “low value” and sending another shuttle to the demolition planet would be too costly, the agent sacrifices his job to secure her rescue, forcing him to search for new work in an economy where even entry level jobs are scarce.
It was easy to see why Orbit won Toronto Fringe’s audience and volunteer pick awards, earning it an extra night in the Factory Theatre Studio Space.
The performances by this production’s two-person cast are stellar (or should I say interstellar). For her part, Miller does an excellent job portraying the range of emotions felt by her character – from blind anger and growing fear to desperation and finally hope. King, meanwhile, demonstrates growth in his character as he builds from seeing Roe as just another customer complaining about something stupid to seeing her as a real human being with hopes and dreams for a better life, ultimately inspiring him to become the hero she needs and want more in his own life.
Making excellent use of projection to display the shuttle controls and the customer service agent’s computer and phone system, the set in this play is a masterclass in what can be done with a smaller budget. The stage is divided into two sides for most of the play, with Roe in her space shuttle on the left and the agent in his office on the right. This division makes the physical distance between the characters apparent and highlights the importance of their growing emotional connection and mutual understanding.
Though small in cast and crew, this play tells a big story about the true value of human life and our relationships with one another.
While Orbit has now completed its run at Toronto Fringe, I’m hopeful to see it picked up by other theatre companies in the future.
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