To close out 2020, Griffin Theatre Company will be presenting the great revenge tragi-comedy Wicked Sisters at the Seymour Centre’s Reginald Theatre from 6th November to 12th December.
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.
Director Nadia Tass said, “I am fascinated with the seeming loyalty and strength of these four women as they discover they each had a relationship with the same man. Rifts, deceptions and betrayals are slowly revealed as unpredictably deep friendships amongst them are uncovered. I am curious to find whether there are moral or ethical codes that are broken. I love that the play elucidates so many truths about the human condition. Wicked Sisters is incredibly current, couched in humour, and bold in what it dares.”
PLAYWRIGHT Alma De Groen DIRECTOR Nadia Tass DESIGNER Tobhiyah Stone Feller LIGHTING DESIGNER Trent Suidgeest COMPOSER AND SOUND DESIGNER Nate Edmondson
WITH Di Adams, Vanessa Downing, Deborah Galanos and Hannah Waterman
DATES: 6th November – 12th December
PERFORMANCE TIMES: Monday to Friday 7pm, Saturdays 2pm and 7pm
LOCATION: Reginald Theatre, the Seymour Centre – corner of City Rd and Cleveland St, Chippendale
BOOKINGS: https://griffintheatre.com.au/whats-on/wicked-sisters/ or (02) 9361 3817
TICKETS: Full $62 / Seniors, Previews $52 / Concession $46 / Under 35 $38