Theater Review: ‘Sisters’ grapples with the interplay between humanity and technology
Published: 10-09-2024 6:01 PM |
So often, fictional tales about artificial intelligence take a dark approach, casting the technology as an inevitable threat to human existence. Will Smith fending off an onslaught of cold-blooded automatons in “I, Robot” (2004) comes to mind, as does the concluding scene of “Ex Machina” (2014), when the humanoid Ava is set loose on society after escaping her prison-laboratory.
Matthew Libby’s play “Sisters,” which opened at Northern Stage on Saturday and runs through Oct. 20, offers a warmer take on the genre. Told through a series of non-chronological snapshots, the story explores the 90-year relationship between Matilda, a human, and her sister Greta, an AI program created by Matilda’s father to keep her company after her mom died.
Directed by Aileen Wen McGroddy, the majority of “Sisters” transpires in what used to be Matilda’s dad’s workshop, but is now Matilda’s room. The space, cleverly designed by Tatiana Kahvegian, is cluttered with stacks of books and papers, workbenches and half a dozen dusty computer monitors reminiscent of the dial-up era.
As the play opens, the audience is immediately cast into the story’s world — a kind of alternative dimension combining past and future — as strobe lights flash across a large screen that hangs behind the set. Later on, the screen will display Matilda’s age and footage from Greta’s memories. Distorted sounds crackle and whir from the speakers, and for a moment the play feels like the beginning of a Daft Punk concert, which seems fitting considering the subject matter.
Greta, voiced by Madeleine Barker, enters Matilda’s life when she is 6 years old. Still in development, her voice is clunky and monotone, and she implores Matilda, played by Jihan Haddad who also performed in Northern Stage’s “Sense and Sensibility” which McGroddy directed last year, to keep talking so she can improve. The precocious Matilda is skeptical of Greta and mocks her strange voice, garnering some of the first laughs of the night. At this point Greta is a stranger, and Matilda treats her as such.
The next scene finds Matilda drunk at her father’s funeral reception at age 45. Now when she addresses Greta, her tone is casual. Greta’s voice has changed, too. Her cadence is smoother, more human. Even though Barker is only a disembodied voice, leaving Haddad to carry out her part alone on stage, which she does with great dexterity and wit, the actors excel in fostering a familiar rapport between the two protagonists.
“Sisters” is as much a tale about AI-human relationships as it is about sibling dynamics, especially when one person requires practical care, as Greta does. Both sisters feel alienated from the world in their own way, and their relationship offers some respite. After all, who can understand their situation better than they? Their early years together are peppered with sweet moments, such as when a beaming Matilda tells Greta about a new man she’s met who will eventually become her husband.
Despite their closeness, sibling rivalry often rears its head. It’s clear early on that the two adore each other, yet their insecurities always seem to get the better of them, causing almost every scene to spiral into an argument. They constantly compare themselves, bickering over which one is smarter and more well-liked, especially by their father. McGroddy navigates this uglier side of the relationship with care, never shying away from the sisters’ flaws nor demonizing them, either.
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The unique conditions of their relationship only make matters worse. Matilda must live in the shadow of her sister’s pristine memory and immortality, a reality that becomes all the more painful to witness as she ages. Meanwhile, what Greta longs for most is to be like other humans, and she envies Matilda’s body and the freedom it affords her.
After Matilda agrees to build Greta a body, tensions surge towards a boiling point that may be too much for the siblings to bear.
Libby, who studied cognitive science and creative writing at Stanford University, has been grappling with the interplay between humanity and technology for a long time. Before “Sisters,” he wrote “Data,” a play about an entry-level programmer who discovers his company’s dark underbelly. In production at the Arena Stage in Washington D.C. this fall, “Data” earned Libby the Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Award in 2020.
“Sisters” won Dartmouth’s Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Playwriting in 2022, which paved the way for the play’s debut production at Northern Stage.
In conjunction with the show, Dartmouth’s Digital Arts, Leadership & Innovation (DALI) Lab designed an AI chat bot, Greta 2.0, that was set up in Northern Stage’s lobby where patrons could ask it questions about the show. Though Libby started writing “Sisters” just before applications like ChatGPT entered the mainstream, its themes are more relevant than ever. Greta 2.0 gives patrons the opportunity to experience such technology first-hand, often for the first time, as Jason Smoller, Northern Stage’s managing director, noted in an email correspondence.
When a man in front of me reached his turn to chat with Greta 2.0, he asked “Do you think humans can have a deep relationship with you?” The bot seemed to think they could and that’s certainly what comes across in “Sisters.” Greta and Matilda’s sisterhood raises myriad questions about the ethics of human-AI relationships, especially as the technology continues to develop. The play is careful not to moralize though, instead, it stays grounded in the humanity of its protagonists, resulting in a tender story about two individuals whose love for each other finds a way to transcend even the most fundamental of differences.
Northern Stage’s production of “Sisters” runs through Oct. 20 in White River Junction. For tickets ($34-$74) visit northernstage.org
Marion Umpleby is a freelance writer. She lives in Tunbridge.