Review: Sister Lines, Hope Theatre

I normally love the Hope Theatre: a small, intimate black box space above a nice pub on Upper Street, North London. Nonetheless, in the middle of (another) heatwave, there is little you can do to mitigate the rising temperature despite a number of portable and handheld fans: ‘hot’ doesn’t do it justice. But throughout all this, as the audience settles, Rebecca Bidwell (playing andi) sits as part of them, absolutely stock still, staring into the distance, with no facial movement whatsoever.

Director and writer Antonia Kleopa arrives on stage to talk the audience through the trigger warnings, mentioning a recent cast illness as well as the fact that this play is a work-in-progress. I draw attention to this because it is not standard practice, and it is essential in allowing the audience to understand the full context behind the performance while, frankly, forming an immediate rapport between spectator and performer.

andi died a year ago, but instead of choosing the normal grave route, she chose to be reincarnated through AI, courtesy of Echo Corporation, having provided a bank of memories that can subsequently be called upon to recreate the past. Today, on the first anniversary of her death, her sister elaina (Sonia Sabardeil) has come to visit at some financial cost. The pair are allowed to revisit six memories in their time together.

An automated voice reminiscent of Amazon’s Alexa manages proceedings as the pair re-enact scenes from the memory bank. The interactions are naturally disjointed and odd. andi is an AI creation, so physical touch is impossible, as is any discussion beyond a formally approved memory. The sisters had been separated during a large part of their childhood, and elaina is keen to probe the reasons behind this, alongside the context to an overheard conversation from their past. But these lines of enquiry are shut down by Echo, and elaina becomes frustrated and upset as the corporation forces the pair to reselect memories to re-enact.

Lighting and special effects are done well, working within the confines of the space and jarring the audience as needed to create shock and mark scene changes. Bidwell, as andi, is very good, moving easily between ‘artificial’ and ‘real’. Sabardeil, as elaina, takes a while to warm up but shines as she becomes increasingly frustrated with Echo.

This is a fascinating piece, set against the increasing presence of AI in our lives. Well written, the performance takes us through the trajectory of a sibling relationship from childhood to adulthood, highlighting important milestones and trigger points. More importantly, it reminds the spectator of the uniqueness of being alive and the nuance of real-time emotion alongside the need for touch and physical contact. The reality of grief is that it cannot be assuaged by technology in pre-agreed, standalone memory chapters. The play serves as a warning about the control AI could easily have over us, and the importance of human connection.

This is a timely, moving work that leaves you questioning not what AI can recreate, but what it never should. 

Produced by SoulSpire Arts
Writer/director/producer: Antonia Kleopa
Sound designer: Andrea Esposito
Lighting designer: Belle Bao 

Sister Lines has completed its performance at The Hope Theatre’s WIP Week.