Wicked Sisters

Although Alec Hobbes – famed social Darwinist and artificial intelligence researcher – is dead, his computer algorithm lives on, working away in his study, while his widow Meridee tiptoes around the machine much like she did around her husband for most of their marriage.

Her friends Judith and Lydia turn up to shake their friend out of her isolation and self-neglect, but what promises to be a weekend of laughter and wine turns comically savage when Hester arrives and truths about the past start to tear at the fabric of friendship.

While Wicked Sisters wouldn’t pass the Bechdel Test because the women are talking about men – survival and men, ambition and men, murder and men, blackmail and men – it’s also a story about our future, artificial intelligence, ruthless competition, the issues women face in their fifties as they deal with life’s lacerations, and the struggle to stay relevant as we slide towards extinction.

Wicked Sisters premiered at the Stables in 2002, a time when Australian stages were bereft of fiercely intelligent, independent, brave, witty female characters over 50. Like Margaret Atwood, playwright Alma De Groen’s writing of women was way ahead of its time.

Griffin will be adhering to government advice to ensure the safety of its audience, staff and crew. Both Griffin and the Seymour Centre are registered Covid safe businesses, and will be implementing measures including reduced audience capacity, socially-distanced allocated seating, hand sanitising stations placed throughout the theatre, regular deep cleaning before and after each performance, and the wearing of face masks is strongly encouraged.