Sci-fi tale of cybercrime by Abbey Theater a chilling look at the dark side of the internet

“Voice of the Net,” by local playwright Jeremy Llorence, imagines a future more twisted by the dark side of the internet than today.

Abbey Theater of Dublin and Original Productions Theatre are co-producing the world premiere of the sci-fi suspense thriller, which will open Thursday at the Dublin Community Recreation Center.

Set 20 years from now, mostly in the Midwest, “Voice of the Net” revolves around cyber-threats, a mysterious cyber-vigilante and a small federal task force dedicated to fighting internet crimes.

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“This interesting play speaks to how reliant we’ve become on internet and technology and how there may be negative fallout from that in the future,” said Alyssa Ryan, executive director of Original Productions Theatre.

Like its name suggests, the 5-year-old theater company has a mission to produce only original works.

"We want to highlight new and exciting work by playwrights, especially local artists like Llorence,” Ryan said.

Threats of the 'net, social media

Llorence, an Otterbein University professor who received CATCO and Greater Columbus Arts Council’s 2018 Playwrights Fellowship for this play, said he aimed to explore the power of the internet and social media for both good and bad in the 100-minute two-act.

“This play mostly focuses on the bad, the ability to spread hateful rhetoric online or to harm someone online,” said Llorence, who began writing the script in 2018 after hearing an NPR story about the online spread of racist ideologies.

As Llorence was rewriting drafts in early 2020, Otterbein was hit by a cyberattack, prompting him to enhance his plot about a U.S. senator who receives a digital death threat.

“After Otterbein’s cyberattack, I made the threat bigger so that the senator had to be completely disconnected from the internet,” he said.

'Voice of the Net' is 'fresh ... with many layers,' director says

Abbey Theater supervisor Joe Bishara has wanted to stage Llorence’s play since he first read it in 2019 as a CATCO fellowship judge.

“If I’m reading a play and can see it happening in the movie within my mind, I get pretty excited. This was new, different, fresh and very poignant, with many layers,” said Bishara, director of the co-production.

“You think it’s going to go one way, then it goes another... I was bowled over by this complex play about how people are using the internet for everything now, including how to inspire and activate hate,” Bishara said.

Although set in the future, “Voice of the Net” offers a provocative perspective on today’s technology-driven trends, Bishara said.

“The internet was meant to make our lives better, but it’s also stirring up fears and racism ... while people today are going into game chats to recruit young men into dark causes,” he said.

Getting real surreal

This is Llorence’s fourth full-length play, following productions of other works in Chicago, Milwaukee and Grand Rapids, Michigan.

“I like to incorporate elements of magical realism and Japanese surrealism, but I wanted to try something different in ‘Voice ...’ by also exploring influences of Japanese surrealism,” he said.

Extrapolating present technologies, Llorence imagined plausible scenarios of how people might access the internet differently a generation from now — perhaps through Google-glass-style projections.

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“Joe, an advocate for this play from Day One, really got it. He understands the play’s rhythms, motions and my ideas of how it should look,” Llorence said.

Bishara, in turn, asked his design team to incorporate computer projections, surreal lighting shifts and masks to reflect characters operating online.

“When people are online, it’s like they’re wearing a mask — so we show that while they’re talking back and forth in video games,” Bishara said. “Almost every video game now has a chat room, so we also identified ways for the staging to make clear when characters are in the ‘net."

2 leading ladies at center of 'Voice of the Net'

Unlike Llorence’s previous plays, which tended to focus on toxic masculinity, “Voice of the Net” revolves around two female protagonists.

Julie Whitney-Scott plays detective Donna Lloyd, who leads the federal task force fighting internet crimes.

“She’s a seasoned agent, dedicated to her job and to following rules and regulations, but she also has a personable, human side,” Whitney-Scott said.

Lloyd has been investigating Daria (Nat Harper), a mysterious online personality who previously helped track down internet bad guys.

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“Lloyd is in awe of Daria, and sees her as supportive of her mission to fight crime,” Whitney-Scott said.

When a senator is threatened, Lloyd’s team intensifies their online investigations and possible links to Daria.

“Personally, I’m paranoid about the internet and suspicious of anyone trying to contact me who I don’t know,” Whitney-Scott said.

“With cyber-threats and recent mass shootings precipitated by the internet underworld, this play shows how dangerous social media can be if you’re not aware,” she said.

Whitney-Scott first played Donna at CATCO’s 2019 staged reading.

“When we first did it, this fast-moving play wasn’t as relevant as today, but some things in the play are now actually happening in real life,” she said. “It’s almost as if Jeremy could see the future.”

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At a glance

Abbey Theater of Dublin and Original Productions Theatre will present “Voice of the Net,” at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, 2 p.m. Sunday, 8 p.m. June 9-11 and 2 p.m. June 12 at 5600 Post Road, Dublin. Tickets cost $20 to $25, or $20 for streaming per device June 8-12. (614-410-4550, dublinohiousa.gov/abbey-theater)

This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: 'Voice of the Net' to premiere at Dublin Community Recreation Center