Inspired by true events, this world premiere by award-winning playwright Tom Holloway is a gripping psychological thriller about the birth of AI, and the ethical consequences of outsourcing our humanity.
From four-time Australian Writers’ Guild AWGIE Award winner Tom Holloway (The Museum of Modern Love) comes this riveting new psychological thriller, based on real events.
Dr Joseph Weizenbaum (Dan Spielman: Black Snow), a brilliant professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, carries the trauma of a childhood fleeing Nazi Germany. When he begins testing a new computer program designed to simulate talk therapy – using details of the private life of his secretary Becky (Manali Datar: The Wrong Gods) – the lines between code and connection begin to blur.
The project is lauded by his research assistant (Hamish Michael: The Twelve) and his colleagues, but as wider interest in his breakthrough intensifies, Weizenbaum begins to question the true cost of his innovation.
As society grapples with the ethics of rapidly advancing and increasingly invasive technologies, director Paige Rattray (Black is the New White) delivers an urgent and unnerving depiction of the birth of AI.
Event Details:
Dates: 28 Sep — 31 Oct 2026
Duration: N/A
Suitable for: N/A
Location: Southbank Theatre, The Sumner
Warnings: This production contains mature themes, including references to violence towards women and the Holocaust.