“The Day the Internet Died”: A Middle School Production
October 29, 2026
What would happen to society if the internet stopped working? That’s the central question driving the Middle School’s fall play, “The Day the Internet Died,” by Ian McWethy and Jason Pizzarello.
The comedy opens with an angry crowd marching down The Schiff Center auditorium aisles, demanding answers from the mayor and sheriff regarding the worst thing that’s ever happened to the town of Bloomington: the internet died.
“How did this happen? When will it return? Can we have vengeance against whoever caused this atrocity?” are some of the many questions they shout.
The mayor and sheriff calmly explain that the internet will return in one week, and they are investigating the internet outage (or “murder” according to the crowd).
During the following days, people come to find out exactly how reliant they are on the internet to complete even basic tasks, such as ordering coffee, sharing life updates with their followers/friends, and researching information using Siri.
While the week begins with a rocky — almost violent — start, soon enough, the town discovers what life could be like without constant notifications, feeds to explore, or content to post.
As people form more meaningful community connections, they begin to wonder if their lives would be better without the internet.
Bravo to the cast and crew for bringing this hilarious and thought-provoking play to life!
