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by AMY BARRATT

Flipping channels the other day I came upon an old familiar cartoon. There was George Jetson climbing into his tiny private plane for the daily jaunt to work, oblivious to the concept of the cyber-commute. It reminded me just how inaccurate science fiction and futurism inevitably are. But then, fictional works about the future are generally intended to reveal more about the time in which they are written than about the future. That appears to be the case with Cyberjack, a new play opening tonight (Nov. 16) at La Licorne.

The latest from playwright/director Michel Monty, Cyberjack is the story of a young hacker said to have been "raised by Yahoo.com." The play takes place in 2020 as Quebec heads into its ninth sovereignty referendum. I'm pretty sure there's a statement about the Americanization of the universe in the fact that the two main characters are named Jack and Joe.

Only two actors--Michel André Cardin and Stéphane Demers--appear live, but numerous others have "virtual" cameos. Cyberjack is a production of Trans-théâtre, the company that went inside a women's washroom last year with W.C.

Cyberjack plays at La Licorne, Nov. 16-Dec. 9, 7 p.m. Wednesdays, 8 p.m. every other night except Sunday and Monday. Box office: 523-2246.

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