(Image courtesy of Brat Productions)
They really will make a play about anything, or at least die trying.
In 2006, AOL’s (America Online) archives of various people’s search histories were released to the public. Roughly over 600,000 users search histories were compromised and released to the wider public.
A majority aren’t worth mentioning, except for a specific user who had searched everything from orchids, to Fall Out Boy lyrics, to gruesome topics in the darkest hour, ranging from broken legs to those of illegal natures involving animals and children (no, I’m not linking that because this IS a school publication.).
The user went by “User 927” in most online discussions. Because of course people would be talking about it. It’s so random to be looking up daffodils and azaleas and then not even a few minutes later be searching for “human mold.”
Yes, that is also a search this alleged User 927 made.
There isn’t an easy way to trace back this kind of data to find the original person who was making these searches, so assumptions are often made.
The personality analysis from the archive of the searches reads as;
“I think that this person is a sick puppy.” … “There is some other poor soul in the house who is searching MarthaStewart.com and looking for images of an ultrasound of a 4-month girl.”
This implies that, possibly, it could be two people searching up for different things. One searching for the flowers and the ultrasounds, while another party is searching up for the skin mold and other degeneracy.
Another comments also reads as;
“He’s probably a priest or kindergarten teacher.” Which, creepy to think about considering all the heinous things this user has allegedly searched up illegal material of children.
Another speculative source links this search history to a theory (albeit more obscure) known as the “mind after midnight” theory. Simply put, the theory suggests that when a mind stays up past, well, midnight, the brain drastically changes. It can perceive the world completely differently, make your actions irrational, and engage in harmful acts or ideas.
So, there’s two theories: One that seems more plausible (the two residents under one roof sharing a computer thus sharing a search history), and one too intriguing to ignore (the mind after midnight theory).
Again, there isn’t a way for people to easily trace back the username to a computer or I.P. address, so finding out who this person could be could be easier. If there is a person really searching up truly dangerous things, and following links FOR those things, it’s understandable that people want to figure it out and try to understand them.
So, obviously, this warrants a play being made about it.
In 2008, CNET published an article supposedly about this upcoming play about User 927’s search history, made by the theatre company “Brat Productions,” simply titled “User 927.” However, “U Are What U Seek” is also a title thrown around in internet discussions based around the play, derived from the subtitle of the production.
Weirdly enough, all the articles that talk about this company all link to a different website, specifically a Norwegian finance website. Even the one on the Internet Archive version that dates back to 2018.
I’d say that they lost the domain rights to the name, but that’s not the case given that Brat Productions DOES have a proper website. Maybe it’s an issue with the archives of these articles, but I personally cannot say.
Aside from that, supposedly it ran from June 6th to June 22nd in 2008. A time where places like YouTube were just finding its footing, but it was also the year after “Me at the zoo” was posted to the site, so people were finding YouTube and posting to it.
And post they did! A trailer for the play was uploaded to the Brat Productions Youtube channel.
But that begs the question of; Where is the play itself? If they can upload the trailer for the play, then surely upload a recording of the play itself, or at the very least, have a script be posted online like most other productions are (legally or otherwise). However, there is none of that besides the trailer.
Everything else seems to be completely lost. There isn’t even a lost media wiki article on the subject matter. Most of it is under a long Reddit post about it (that includes other sources.).
So, there is a trailer. There are interviews with the playwrights about the vague plot of the production, that being of a mother/daughter duo trying to figure out the search history of the titular User 927. Yet, nothing.
Except– There is one thing I found.
Making a quick Google search, there was an image of a cover for a supposed book about the play, or at least that was what I thought it was. Clicking on it furthers you to an Amazon page for Amazon India of all things. I clicked on the sample tab– and there it is.
It’s a full on script for the show! Including samples of some of the pages. There is even a cast list of the characters for the show, including narrators, the mother/daughter duo, and the titular User 927.
There is also a listing for the script on the Amazon U.K. website as well, also free with Amazon Kindle Unlimited, so no worrying about having to pay in euros.
To make it even more wild, the credits for the book is also attributed to the original playwrights of the show, Micheal Alltop and Katharine Clark Gray, so there is no doubt that it’s the real script for the play from 2008. And both listings have been sitting on Amazon’s international websites since May 25, 2025.
Almost a whole year. And yet, no one else has mentioned it?
In all the forms I’ve dug up, the articles from years long gone, the questionnaires and YouTube coverage of this subject, nobody has mentioned the play, let alone delved deep into the search that wasn’t just the very real User 927’s identity.
Again, supposedly this play has been hunted down for at least a few years, if the Reddit post from before is anything to go by. People have heard about it from the articles and the various discussions about User 927, yet the scripts have just been sitting there, on Amazon, for almost a whole year, unnoticed until now.
Until I can find a way to post them to the Internet Archive (since they haven’t been already, since people think everything about this play is lost), I’ll at the very least share the links to the scripts here. It may not be the whole, uncut play recorded by Brat Productions themselves, but since the scripts are here, someone can maybe recreate it since the titular Brat Productions cannot.
Brat Productions have long since closed up shop. Their home base of operations in Philadelphia has been temporarily closed for a couple of years now. Their last known activity was back in 2017, and haven’t been heard from much since.
Believe you me, I’ve been tempted to reach out to the original playwrights for this article, but that might be a little out of my wheelhouse.
If this helps the search in any way, then I am glad to have been a part of it, even if it was small, or this information was already brought to light.
I’m hoping this play can be found, in some way, shape, or form.
