Skip to main content

Sisters

“My body looks like a computer.
But that does not mean I am not alive.”
– Greta


  • Written by Matthew Libby
  • Directed by Jessica Thebus**

A riveting and thought-provoking new play about artificial intelligence and the future of family

“Matthew Libby [has] the requisite background not only in drama but also in high-tech."
The New York Times

Synopsis

Sisters

Matilda and Greta have always been there for one another, through joy and grief and homework and boyfriends. They’re as close as sisters can be—even if Greta is artificial intelligence. As Matilda ages and Greta longs for independence, their relationship begins to be tested like never before.

Told over the course of 90 years, Sisters is a riveting and thought-provoking new play about the future of family. 

Cast

Brenda Barrie

Matilda

Brenda Barrie (Matilda) is delighted to make her Writers Theatre debut. Chicago credits include Steppenwolf Theatre Company (Middletown, Sex with Strangers, Okay Bye); Chicago Shakespeare Theater (Julius Caesar, Elizabeth Rex); American Blues Theater (Roann @ the Gates, Six Corners); Lifeline Theatre (Mrs. Caliban, Mariette in Ecstasy); Goodman Theatre (Mother Road); The House Theatre of Chicago (United Flight 232, The Nutcracker); Route 66 Theatre Company (The Downpour); The Gift Theatre (The Ruby Sunrise); Metropolis Performing Arts Centre (A Streetcar Named Desire); and Silk Road Rising (Caravaggio). She is a four-time Joseph Jefferson Award nominee for Principal Performer and has also appeared on Chicago Med, Chicago P.D., Chicago Fire and The Chicago Code. She earned her BFA in Theatre from the University of Indianapolis and spent a formative semester studying at the University of Ulster in Northern Ireland. She is represented by Stewart Talent.

Chloe Johnston

Greta

Chloe Johnston (Greta) is a writer, director and teacher in Chicago. She has worked with theatres across Chicago and is a long-time ensemble member of The Neo-Futurists. Recent projects include 46 Plays for America’s First Ladies (Critics Pick, NYTimes), Grace (The Orchard Project, Links Hall, Roman Susan, Northwestern University) and Leave the Light On, an interview-based performance and audio project about caretaking labor. With Coya Paz Brownrigg, she is the author of Ensemble-Made Chicago: A Guide to Devised Theater (NU Press). She is an Associate Professor of Theater and Performance Studies at Lake Forest College. www.chloejohnston.org

Sarah Hecht

Understudy Greta

Sarah Hecht (Understudy Greta) is thrilled to be working with Writers Theatre. She has performed extensively throughout the Chicago area with companies including Northlight Theatre, Remy Bumppo, Shattered Globe, Citadel Theatre, The Building Stage and Filament Theatre, among others. In addition, she has performed in, devised and directed numerous original productions with the experimental arts organization Cock and Bull. Sarah holds an MFA in Acting from The Theatre School at DePaul University, where she is also a faculty member, teaching a range of acting and performance courses.

Julia Rowley

Understudy Matilda

Julia Rowley (Understudy Matilda) Theater credits include: Translations (Writers Theatre), Twelfth Night, Hamlet (u/s) and Romeo & Juliet (Oak Park Festival Theatre), Spin Off (Neo Futurists), Mary Jane (u/s) (Northlight), Hamlet (Red Theater), The Rise and Fall of Little Voice (The Gift Theatre), Airness (Citadel), Blue Stockings (Promethean Theatre). Film/TV credits: Chicago Med (NBC), South Side (HBO), neXt (Fox), The Killer (Netflix). She is a graduate of The Black Box Acting Academy, Second City, iO, CIC improv and Stella Adler Art of Acting Studio Los Angeles.

Creative

A Inn Doo

Scenic Designer

Lia Wallfish

Costume Designer

Harper Justus

Sound Designer

Eric Watkins

Lighting Designer

Stephan Mazurek

Co-Projections Designer

Liz Sung

Co-Projections Designer

Reva Stover

Assistant Director

Corinne Brower

Additional Actor

Matthew Libby

Playwright

Matthew Libby is a writer and actor based in Brooklyn, by way of Los Angeles. He made his Off-Broadway playwriting debut with Data (Lucille Lortel Theatre, Outer Critics Circle nomination for the John Gassner Award); regional productions of his plays include Data (Arena Stage, Helen Hayes Award nomination for Best New Play or Musical) and Sisters (Writers Theatre, Northern Stage). Data was also previously adapted as a digital production by the Tony-winning Alliance Theatre in May 2021, a production featured in a New York Times review of virtual theatre works that “clear a path toward continued innovation and growth of the form.” Winner of the Kendeda National Graduate Playwriting Competition and Neukom Playwriting Award, Matt is a 2026 Ucross Resident, 2022-2023 Dramatists Guid Foundation Fellow, 2023 Theater Masters Visionary Playwright, three-time Princess Grace Award finalist, five-time O’Neill Playwrights Conference semifinalist, and Blue Ink Playwriting Award featured finalist. His work has been produced and developed by theaters across the country, including Roundabout, Alliance Theatre, New York Stage and Film, Westport Country Playhouse, Northern Stage, Pioneer Theatre Company, The Kennedy Center, National New Play Network, Theater Masters, The Barrow Group, The Road Theater Company, WNYU’s Theatre-in-the-Sound, and others. With Stanford Repertory Theater, he helped devise and acted in The Many Faces of Farce, which was nominated for a Bay Area Critics Award for Best Production. For the screen, he is a writer on Season 3 of Fox's hit medical drama Doc, has developed TV projects for Hulu, Lionsgate/eOne, Beau Willimon's Westward Productions, and Alex Gibney's Jigsaw Productions, and has been recognized for his screenwriting work by The Black List and Script Pipeline. Matt studied cognitive science and creative writing at Stanford University, and received his MFA in dramatic writing from NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, where he was awarded the Chair’s Award for Distinguished Achievement and where he also teaches. He is a proud member of the Writers Guild of America and the Dramatists Guild of America.

Jessica Thebus**

Director

Jessica Thebus is a theater artist, director, and educator. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from Northwestern University, and is currently Director of the Northwestern MFA Program in Directing. She has directed in Chicago and nationally for twenty-five years, and has long associations with many Chicago theaters, including the Goodman Theatre where she directed A Christmas Carol from 2000-2005, as well as plays by Tracy Scott Wilson and Sarah Ruhl.  Northlight Theater is also an artistic home for Jessica where she has directed ten plays including Shining Lives: A Musical which received a Joseph Jefferson award nomination for best new work. Favorite others include Steppenwolf Theater Company,  Lookingglass Theater Company, The Gift Theater, Writer’s Theater, and Court Theater.  Favorite projects nationally have taken place at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, The Huntington Theatre, Kansas City Repertory Theatre, The Marin Theater Company, as well as the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. Jessica also creates outdoor spectacle projects in Chicago that celebrate community, joy and environmental justice.


** Denotes member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

Andre Pluess^

Co-Sound Designer

Andre Pluess has designed the Broadway productions of Metamorphoses, I Am My Own Wife and 33 Variations (Drama Desk Award nomination) as well as the world premiere of The Clean House at Yale Repertory and Lincoln Center. Based in Chicago, his work has appeared on most of the city’s stages including Northlight (Shining Lives with Amanda Dehnert), Goodman, Steppenwolf, Court, and Lookingglass where he is an associate artist. He has composed music and designed sound for theaters around the U.S., most frequently at the Oregon and California Shakespeare Festivals, Berkeley Repertory, Arena Stage, American Conservatory Theater, Seattle Repertory, La Jolla Playhouse and Center Theater Group. Choral works include: Winesburg, Ohio,Eastland, Whitman, Undone (with Ben Sussman), and Paris By Night (with Amy Warren).


^ Denotes member of the United Artists Local 829

 

Isabel Patt*

Stage Manager

* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers

Bobby Kennedy

Dramaturg

Bobby Kennedy is the Director of Artistic Development at Writers Theatre. He has been the resident dramaturg at the theatre since 2008 and has led the theatre's new work program since 2014. Highlights of his tenure include the world premieres of Dhaba on Devon Avenue by Madhuri Shekar, Manual Cinema's Christmas Carol, Wife of a Salesman by Eleanor Burgess, Dishwasher Dreams by Alauddin Ullah, Witch by Jen Silverman, Trevor by Dan Collins and Julianne Wick-Davis, The Hunter and the Bear by PigPen Theatre Co., and Death of a Streetcar Named Virginia Woolf by Tim Sniffen; the national premieres of Quixote: On the Conquest of Self by Mónica Hoth, Claudio Valdés Kuri, and Georgina Escobar, and The Dance of Death by Conor McPherson; and the Chicago premieres of Natasha, Pierre & the Great Comet of 1812, A Distinct Society, Tiger Style!, Athena, The Last Match, The Niceties, Vietgone, Smart People, and Marjorie Prime. His dramaturgy credits also include the world premieres of Give It All Back (SideShow Theatre Company), Body and Blood (The Gift Theatre), Ibsen is Dead (Interrobang Theatre Project) and The Peacock (Jackalope Theatre Company), as well as the midwest premiere of The Luck of the Irish (Next Theatre Company). Kennedy co-founded The Spontaneous Theater Project in Boston and has also worked with Huntington Theatre Company and New Repertory Theatre. He is an alumnus of Boston University.

Dylan Cohen

Assistant Dramaturg

DYLAN COHEN is a theatre artist and adjunct professor based in Chicago. Their artistic practice blends their wit, digital nativity, and love of media scholarship. Dylan helped establish and serves as Marketing and Community Engagement Lead at Do Process Theatre Company. You can also say hi to Dylan in the Box Office here at Writers Theatre! Thank you. Yes, you! More at dycosmic.com and doprocesstheatre.com.

Víctor López

Casting

Víctor López has been with Writers Theatre since September 2021, been proudly serving as Company Manager since April of 2022, and as Casting Assistant Since September of 2025. An actor themself, he takes a human-first approach to company management, believing that artists who are generously supported create the best art.

Katie Galetti, CSA

Casting Support

Katie Galetti is the Artistic Producer and Casting Director at Writers Theatre in Glencoe and a member of CSA. She also serves as the Casting Consultant at Remy Bumppo Theatre in Chicago, and is a freelance casting director regionally. In addition to her casting work, Katie produces and directs events of multiple genres, including opera, digital, experiential, and film. She's worked with Little Cinema Digital, 13Exp, and HERE Arts & Culture Consulting as a producer, is the founder and Artistic Director of Janus Concert Series, and is a founding member of the Chicago Opera Collective. Outside of theater, Katie is a volunteer with Resilience Chicago as a Sexual Assault Crisis Advocate and a classically trained vocalist. More information can be found at www.katiegaletti.com.

Miranda Taylor

Additional Actor

Miranda is a type one diabetic, Chicago-based theatre artist. Miranda studied at Gordon College, specializing in Theatre, Psychology and Management and received her Master’s from Adelphi University in Educational Theatre Production Management. She has worked at Skyline Theatre, Lifeline Theatre, Proboscis Theatre, Paramount Theatre, Kerfuffle Productions, and been a part of a number of New Works projects. They are passionate about developing new works, supporting young artists, creating safe spaces for artists of all abilities and provoking empathy.

Crew

See the Full Company

  • Programmer: Avery Spellmeyer
  • Light Board Operator: Lea Davis
  • Sound Board Operator: Isabel Gable
  • Crew Cover: TBD 
  • Wardrobe Supervisor: TBD 


* Denotes member of Actors’ Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers

** Denotes member of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society

^ Denotes member of the United Artists Local 829

Audience Guide

Read

Feeling More Human: A Q&A with playwright Matthew Libby

Watch

Hear from Braden Abraham What Makes Our 2026/27 Season So Special!