As we leave the theatre, my friend asks me, “What did you think of that?” The question floats around my head, and I simply answe,r “I don’t know, I think I enjoyed it.” We’ve just come out of Hey Siri the latest play from the formidable playwright Micky Delahunty.

The show is about the mind, or technology, or AI, or social interaction, or all of the above, or none of that. It leaves me with a lot of questions and not a whole lot of answers. And that intrigues me greatly. OK, clearly there’s a lot I don’t know, so maybe let’s start with what I do know.

Hey Siri follows a host of characters as they navigate their way through fairytales, social interactions and fallacies. An older worried woman, played by Micky Delahunty, and a young curious teenager, played by Lucy Delahunty-Versteegh, are at the core of the show. They juxtapose each other: one is phone-obsessed cheerful and naïve; the other is worry-stricken and insightful. These two lead us through the show while controlling and manipulating a host of characters – played by Parekawa Finlay, Billie Deganutti and Jono Weston – who navigate the different scenes they are placed into.

This is not traditional theatre. It’s closer to absurdism or abstractionism. Everything feels jagged and off, giving the audience the sense they are on the backfoot. The characters speak in a way that should feel natural but doesn’t. They often use repetition, or respond to other characters in ways that almost feel proper, but isn’t quite. I think that’s purposeful. Micky Delahunty’s script makes me ask questions about what exactly is happening and what ideas are being presented.

It is an extremely tight script that throws a lot at you. Sometimes it feels like too much and I start to drift away, but as soon as that happens Hey Siri pulls me right back in with a new concept, or idea, or question. But again, it is still a lot to process all at once. Is this a comment on technology? Is this a comment on AI? Is this a comment on how we treat others in the modern age? I just don’t know, but I really want to.

The cast is phenomenal! Each actor truly does stand out. They clearly know this play and its themes inside and out, and play to its tones and themes with incredible skill.

Jono Weston has a coldness and sardonic quality about him, that makes him fascinating to watch, and perfectly fits the undercurrent of the show. Lucy Delahunty-Versteegh’s joy and bubbliness capture the overcurrent with such genuineness that I overhear another audience member comment, after the show, how natural she appears in this role.

Billie Deganutti and Parekawa Finlay bounce off each other with ease, and have no difficulty in jumping between characters and emotional states. And of course, there’s Micky Delahunty who communicates their sense of worry splendidly. They communicate complicated concepts and thoughts in a way that feels like they’re second nature to them.

All of these elements come together to form a formidable ensemble that flawlessly frames Hey Siri.

The exquisite performances are often backed up by an excellent score, performed by Jono Weston. His live performance boosts the play to a new level and usually adds a light and clown-like quality. This is very welcome after scenes that have my brain working overtime. As I’m trying to unpack the scene, when a quirky ringtone is played or a boppy tune is tweedled out, maybe accompanying a character leaving the stage, it makes me and others smile or giggle, and helps reset the brain for the next scene.

A small detail that adds a lot to the show is the projection. Throughout the hour, the teenage character takes pictures of what is happening on stage, which are projected as meme-ified versions. While this does give us a fun reprieve from what’s happening, it also highlights and comments on the scenes itself. What you take away from these memes, like a lot of the show, is up to you to decide. Perhaps it’s a comment on how social media reduces complex issues to small bites of entertainment for consumption. But I don’t know.

And that’s where my problem with the show is. I just don’t know. All the elements of the show are extremely solid: the acting, the writing, the music, the projection. But it leaves me trying to piece put it all together with the ideas and themes. However, is that really a problem? This is what makes Hey Siri so intriguing to me, I want to unpack and explore everything I have just seen and experienced. And that may be why my favourite part of the show might actually be directly after the show itself.

When a group of us gather to share our experiences, we find we all had wildly different ideas about it. I pitch that it was all about social media and technology and the corruption of youth because of it. Another poses that it’s about memory and life. I overhear another audience member break it down to age differences. Hey Siri (as previously mentioned) throws a lot at you, and I love the conversation that’s generated from it. Sure, I may not fully know what it was about or how I felt about it, but I desperately want to talk about it. That’s the thing I would argue the show excels at! It encourages discussion and critical thinking, and in this day and age of conflicting and fake news, that is such an important thing to nurture.

So, look if you’re looking for an easy-going show, Hey Siri may not be the show for you. But if you’re prepared to be challenged and face unknowns, I would highly recommend it. And bring your friends, bring your uni professor, bring your mum. Get as many different perspectives as possible. This is a show you will want to watch, discuss, sleep on and then go watch again. You may not know how you feel about Hey Siri, but you’ll certainly have a lot to discuss about it.

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