“Remediation,” an immersive multimedia theater experience, delivers another chapter of Rebecca Kopycinski’s dystopian vision in early November. The show places the audience inside an underground meeting of the resistance group Omega to take part in a political insurgency against the authoritarian rule of Ultra.
The production, originally scheduled for October, was postponed when the original venue shuttered permanently a week before the opening. With its relocation to Upstairs at Bow, the battle between Ultra and Omega returns to Bow Market, the site of the creator’s recent sold-out run of “ThotBot Implantation Center” shows last fall.
The Indie talked with Kopycinski about the depths of ThotBot lore, who are really the “good guys” of the story, and what it feels like to stage what might be the last production ever from the ThotBot universe.
Which came first in the ideation mode, the fascist Ultra or the resistance group Omega? Which came first in terms of actual production? What determined the order of priority (which one got made before the other)?
The very first ThotBot show, called “Reagan Esther Myer,” was a theater show with live music and video. I sometimes call it a multimedia musical. It was the story of a woman working for the government making DIY survivalist tutorial videos for a postapocalyptic world in which everyone has a brain implant called ThotBot that is mandated by a fascist regime known as The Ultra. That storyline included the resistance, too. You gotta have the evil and the good for tension, right? I would need to rewrite this show to match the current depth and breadth of the lore if I ever did it again, but there’s a pretty important plot twist at the end that needs to make its way into another show or experience, but I’ll worry about that later. There are a couple of oblique references to it in “Remediation.” See if you can pick up on the hint.
“Reagan Esther Myer” was never meant to be the first show of a serialized story, but after that show, a friend – may he now rest in peace – said, “I want to know more about this world! Maybe not from that stage, in that show, but some other way.” And I was off to the races. The next show was the “ThotBot Implantation Center,” which included a poster asking “Is your ThotBot glitched?” and sent curious folks to an in-universe website and hopefully to the show if their interest was piqued. The concept of that show came first, and then I found out Bow Market had an artist-in-residency program. A low-risk venue that was free for a month was exactly what I needed to bring that to life. More on that show later on.
Then during Covid, I wrote and produced the podcast (aka audio drama, aka radio play) called “After Impact.” Season 2 of that is in postproduction and will be out sometime in the coming months.
“Remediation” marked the first time that I wrote a show from the perspective of the resistance. I hadn’t fleshed out that group at all until then. I gave them a name (Omega), the operatives are called “dragOHMflies.” Like I say to people all the time: It’ll all make sense once you’re there.
The world evolved organically based on available resources, circumstances (e.g., the pandemic) and simply what ideas pop in my head. For sure I fleshed out The Ultra more thoroughly first, as its existence is the basis of the brain implant (and maybe why the apocalypse happened in the first place … you’ll have to attend “Remediation” to get the true story of apocalyptic event called Impact).
The most recent production of ThotBot, “Implantation Center,” staged at Bow Market, was split into halves, including a detailed multimedia installation and live performance. Does “Remediation” follow a similar structure? What might surprise a guest who’s been to ThotBot?
The “ThotBot Implantation Center” format was informed by the space in which it happens. It’s a small storefront in Bow Market in Somerville with not so much as a closet. It’s a plain rectangle that fits an audience of 14. The initial concept was an interactive installation designed to be the waiting room of a ThotBot brain implant clinic in this dystopian world. As it was coming together, it felt like there wasn’t enough meat to be a complete evening. I wanted to continue Reagan’s story from the first show, plus I wanted to perform some music – I am a classically trained vocalist, first and foremost. That’s how the second half of the night developed. And because Bow Market is a delightful little marketplace with places to hang out and pass an hour, it seemed that an extended intermission required to rearrange the venue into a multimedia concert set-up would be possible. It also provides a nice palate cleanser and time to reflect before Reagan’s narrative unfolds, as the second part of the night isn’t immersive. (It’s “out of universe” because there were no laptops playing music in 1995!)
“Remediation” is more akin to a traditional theater format. It’ll run an hour and 45 minutes, maybe 2 hours including a 15-minute intermission. Like the ThotBot shows before it, there is video, there is live music and there are scripted parts. It’s like you’re attending an underground meeting of the resistance, so you’re there to learn how to glitch your ThotBot and thus subvert government control.
There are lots of surprises in “Remediation.” For those familiar with the lore, there are some fun reveals, such as the true story behind Impact and what the acronym Ultra stands for. Some may be surprised to see I know how to play guitar – the music at the Implantation Center is laptop-based synth pop, but I’ve actually been writing songs on guitar longer than electronically. Since “Remediation” maintains the in-universe immersion from beginning to end, there can’t be any anachronistic electronics on display. Gotta preserve the illusion that it’s 1995. So guitar it is! (And if anyone is returning for a second dose of “Remediation,” the songs have been completely rewritten since the 2023 premiere run.)
ThotBot virgins will also have a great time. Even though Reagan’s saga is serialized across the various shows, I always am sure to include enough world-building content so no one is lost. Every show stands alone as well as builds upon and weaves together with the others.
The story of “Remediation” drops guests into an immersive underground resistance meeting. What are some of the pros and cons of getting the audience involved in the action?
Immersive means many things to many people. In the ThotBot Storyworld, it’s stepping into an environment that creates the illusion that one has actually stepped into this postapocalyptic dystopia based in 1995, and they transform into a citizen of the world. This means every little detail is era-accurate. If it’s not (e.g., a projector), steps are taken to obscure or camouflage that item to preserve the illusion.
“Remediation” has an audience participation element in the form of little video quizzes interspersed throughout the show. If answered correctly, you can win a little bag of prizes (basically one of everything from the merch table). It’s a low-stakes way for folks to be involved without being forced. It’s totally optional. I prefer it this way – I call it “immersive lite” in my head. Enough action for the people who love that sort of thing, no effort required from those who just want to take in the show.
The other way I invite folks to participate is through their own clothing. Who would you be in the mid-90s dystopia? What would you be wearing? “Remediation” takes it one step further with an invitation to obscure one’s identity through makeup, masks or other creative methods. Because if you were attending this clandestine meeting of the Resistance, you may not want to be recognized should it be raided by The Ultra. (Wink, wink.)
You’ve created layers of lore to flesh out the ThotBot universe. Is our world evolving into or away from something that more closely resembles the ThotBot universe?
I make a joke regularly that goes something like “take a break from our dystopia and hang out in my make-believe one.”
Sigh. I’ve had people say to me, “Stop writing the story – it’s coming true!” Or my dad in all his Boston accent glory saying, “Beck, it’s like you’re writin’ the few-cha!” Whether or not our future involves a brain implant that erases your “harmful” memories, dulls your emotions and accrues “value” that one can use for “redemption,” there are some eerie coincidences that have occurred since I started writing this multipart story.
A disturbing one is that in the ThotBot Storyworld, Ultra Militianaries in white vans snatch people off the street, those presumably destined for “eradication.” When ICE started doing that with a disregard for due process, it was beyond belief that that could happen here.
A more innocuous example has to do with geography. After Impact, the only temperate place left on Earth is an exclusive enclave known as “Great Island.” Only the rich and powerful are allowed entry. In my head, this has always been Greenland. When Trump started talking about annexing Greenland this year (was that this year?), I couldn’t believe it.
And then of course I take things that I see happening in our world and I work subtle or not-so-subtle references into the narrative. For example, the orientation video in the ThotBot Implantation Center waiting room says, “Remember when everyone used to say ‘Where were you during Impact? Never forget.’ You don’t remember, do you. You did forget. You can thank ThotBot for that.” Or “Don’t you want to be great again?”
So yeah, there are some overlaps between our world and this one. Some purposefully manufactured, some totally random.
You recently announced that this run of ThotBot shows would be your last. Because, among other reasons, it’s a gargantuan task to promote them. What are among the first things you want to do after you’re released from having to throw yourself into “the next Thotbot” production?
I still can’t wrap my head around not performing, but it’s really not sustainable. I gave everything I had the past 18 months or so, hoping that through hustle, sold-out shows, press and generally trying to promote the project that tickets would be easier to sell and I could spend time on other departments of my life, but that’s not really the case. The tickets do sell, but it takes an enormous amount of time and effort to get the word out. So yes, I need to retire not really from performing, because that’s the part I love, but from the marketing and promotion cycle required to sell tickets. That part can be exhausting and stressful.
After these shows, I need to devote some time to resurrecting my video business. The past few years have been rough for everyone I know in the film and video industry. Because I have spent so much time exclusively focused on art and performing, I basically need to do a little CPR on my business side.
And maybe take a vacation? I almost never do that.
Does Omega win?
Are you sure Omega is really the “good guys?” Even though the shows will be retired (probably) forever, the story will continue. Perhaps in the written word, maybe through mailings that you receive after sending me a self-addressed stamped envelope, maybe in another season of “After Impact”? Who knows. I may get another great idea for a show. I don’t know what the future of ThotBot looks like, but I do know we don’t know enough about Omega yet to say for sure that they’re the ones that free people from the shackles of ThotBot and The Ultra. To use the phrase that closes every show: The End … or is it?
