Since 2016, artist Rebecca Kopycinski (me. hey.) has been developing a dystopian saga based in the mid-90s that unfolds across three performances and a scripted fiction podcast. I call this serialized story the ThotBot Storyworld, and each of the four main parts are called "Episodes." The four main Episodes are:
>>> Reagan Esther Myer (multimedia musical | workshopped in 2018 and premiered in 2019)
>>> ThotBot Implantation Center (immersive installation paired with a multimedia concert | premiered in 2020)
>>> After Impact (scripted fiction podcast | something to do during COVID; Season 2 coming in 2026)
>>> Remediation (immersive theater with video, live music, and audience interaction | premiered in 2023; tickets now on sale for 2026 performances)
>>> ThotBot Implantation Center (immersive installation paired with a multimedia concert | premiered in 2020)
>>> After Impact (scripted fiction podcast | something to do during COVID; Season 2 coming in 2026)
>>> Remediation (immersive theater with video, live music, and audience interaction | premiered in 2023; tickets now on sale for 2026 performances)
Whereas each Episode stands alone narratively and requires no prior knowledge, they also build upon and reference one another. You can enter the ThotBot Storyworld at any point in the story and experience the Episodes in any order.
ThotBot is a government-mandated brain implant program instituted by a fascist regime known as The ULTRA, a group that seized control after an apocalyptic event known as Impact that occurred on June 21, 1995. ThotBot erases "harmful" memories and dulls emotional response. ThotBot uses the ULTRA Algorithm to apply points to one's thoughts and actions. This is known as Value, and accrues until one decides to Redeem. There are various levels of Redemption.
The initial concept, devised during the 2016 Presidential Primaries, imagined a world in which Trump won (ha-ha! at the time seemed impossible), and subsequently everything awful about our society was blown out to the Nth degree: climate change, racism, misogyny, class disparity, fucking fascism in general, etc. Then I threw it all back into 1995 and added an apocalyptic event and a brain implant.
I’m working to make sense of the current chaotic world from the safety of this dystopian creation, exploring how themes of personal/collective trauma & memory/emotions/identity intersect with class disparity/imbalanced power structures/misinformation & systemic injustice. I mean, it IS speculative fiction; it's easy to indict everything shitty about OUR society through the lens of this make-believe storyworld (and I do).