Semansky is an instructor of English literature and composition and writes regularly for literary magazines and journals. In this essay, he considers the idea of representation in Kopit's play.

On the surface, Kopit's play, Y2K, is a cautionary tale about computer technology taking over peoples' lives. In positioning technology as the enemy, Kopit raises questions about the representative power of words and images, suggesting that they hold the key to human identity.

In his preface, Kopit writes that he was inspired to write the play after being outraged by Special Investigator Kenneth Starr's intrusion into the private life of Monica Lewinsky during his investigation of her relationship with former president Bill Clinton. Like the Clinton-Lewinsky story, Kopit's play releases information incrementally, by different players at key points, essentially reshaping what the audience (the audience for the Clinton-Lewinsky story being the media-consuming public) believes to be the...