Only Human is an exploration of the profound relationship between reality and the digital world. 80 year old Ruth is admitted into a nursing home as she starts developing qualities of aging and dementia. Everything from the perspective of her daughter Jody starts looking bleak, not until a significant change is made at the home, a change to replace all human staff with robotic carers.

This piece unravels the fabric between mother and daughter in a constantly changing and dynamic relationship where history has it's final say, and the ethics of artificial intelligence are brought into the limelight. The text is written by an emerging Melbourne playwright, Louise Hopewell. It is getting its first official staging at the quaint and charming Holden Street Theatres mid June 2026. Local director Hannah Smith has translated the piece to the stage with a minimal but expressionistic design that sets the focus and attention right onto the characters and themes surrounding them.