We’re screened in. Media bombards us all day and into the night across multiple devices in our pockets, on our wrists, in front of our eyeballs. And so much of it is fake, and so much of it is dizzying, exhausting. Within this maze of mind-control, how do you find an authentic connection with anything human or alive?
These are some of the questions posed by Ben Holbrook’s engaging new play User Agreement, receiving its world premiere at The Makers’ Space in Brooklyn. Under Dante Green’s masterful direction, the piece imaginatively shines a light on queer desire, the infiltration of AI into all aspects of our lives, and the perils and privileges of personal agency. The piece fluidly slips between humor, tenderness, magic, and dystopia.
At the top, Sy (Vann Dukes) and Theo (Marvelyn Ramirez) stand forehead to forehead in the center of a circle, greeting the divinity in one another by affirming the timelessness within themselves. They are eternal lovers who have known each other across species, their bond manifesting in the wilds of Africa and the streets of Paris, and in the forms of fish or tigers. Their sweet moment of metempsychosis abruptly shifts to a nightclub somewhere in Brooklyn, late at night. The two meet with a shared sense of deja vu. They dance to Janet Jackson’s ‘80s hit “Pleasure Principle,” go home, and collapse quickly into love.
Green is armed with a strong script and a talented cast within an intimate space, and knows how to modulate this into a vocabulary that is swift, intelligent, and engaging. The venue is a flexible loft space, allowing me to feel like I’m in the living space with Theo, or sitting next to Sy when they go to work. These actors perform in a style I’ll call heightened naturalism: they embody powerful emotions in their bodies, their gestures full with feeling and right along the threshold of dance. The impact of User Agreement comes through Holbrook’s words, as well as the sound design (also courtesy of Green), the changing moods of the lighting design (Hayley Garcia Parnell), the detailed choices of the set and props (Yua Watanabe).
Initially, Sy and Theo’s romance is pure and beautiful. Dukes and Ramirez inhabit their roles with fearless vulnerability, both physically and emotionally. But then User Agreement takes an unsettling turn, probing how social media and AI are infiltrating every aspect of our lives. We learn more about the clandestine company Nimbus, who seems like a combination of Anthropic, Amazon, and Meta. Jetta Juriansz is scene-stealing in her deadpan interpretation of Nimbus, which could be human, artificial, or maybe just a slick new hologram. At one point, we enjoy a magical conversation between Sy and an octopus (E Boylan), who communicates with aquatic grace and a tireless curiosity unblemished by human affect. Their talk is made possible through a new AI technology courtesy of Nimbus: is artificial intelligence therefore a force for good? Or is it morality what humans put onto meaningless events, one of the many stories that we assign to experience–as Theo’s neighbor Leif (Michael Adrian Burgos) affirms one night while deep in his cups. “Turtles, all the way down!” Holbrook resists giving away any certainties in this play, preferring instead to let the audience try to get comfortable with the destabilization.
All truth is relative, and based on how we interpret our own experience. In User Agreement, a number of characters suffer from the dissociative phenomenon of derealization–a sense that nothing is real, as if the outside world is distorted and dreamlike. But is this collective hallucination by design? And if so, who is causing it, and how do we break free of it?
User Agreement is a fresh and inventive new play, brought to life by a talented band of young artists pushing it, going for it. The story is frequently captivating, with images and moments that will haunt you long after you leave the theater. What circles of influence are we all a part of? Who (or what) is making our decisions? How much freedom or agency do any of us really have anymore?
User Agreement
A new play by Ben Holbrook, directed by Dante Green
The Makers’ Space
October 22 – November 8, 2026
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