Comedy challenges Jodie in many ways

“COMBINE a rebellious group, a sexist husband, and a sexy mysterious neighbour, and you have ‘CyberSex’.” summarises Clondalkin-born Jodie Sweeney.

‘CyberSex’, written by Kate Devaney and directed by Jodie Sweeney is set in a dystopian future where, on one hand there has been a reversal in progression, in terms of women’s rights and freedom, but on the other hand there have been huge advancements in AI.

It is a feminist satirical comedy that combines tech threat and misogyny through the guise of humour.

The main character, Cherie, is the perfect housewife until she meets her household’s new fembot, Sally, and cannot help but feel threatened.

Jodie was approached by her friend Kate back in October of 2025 to see if she would be interested in directing this for her.

She met Kate during her year abroad in New York. She had previously been to a staged reading of Kate’s work back in January of 2025.

Jodie has wanted to work on something with her since. Being approached about working with her on this was an exciting opportunity and a style of writing I had yet to explore.

This is Jodie’s first time working with a cast of this size; her favourite part about making theatre is “collaborating with a team of people, drawing on their individual strengths and gaining new experiences.”

Creating moments of absurdity has been my favourite part of this process; approaching that work with this cast has been most rewarding.

The cast and crew both “challenged me in ways that have encouraged me to keep discovering and developing my ongoing practice.”

As the piece is a work in progress, Kate and Jodie have had to approach the work without funding; “it has presented us with its challenges, but it has also allowed us to draw on the strengths of the cast and crew and create a piece of work we feel proud of.”

The process has been collaborative and fulfilling in “many different ways”; navigating this approach to work without funding has been “challenging but also very rewarding and insightful.”

Jodie recently returned from a year abroad in New York.

She had the opportunity to work on and off on the broadway production of  ‘The Dead 1904’, directed by Ciaran O’Reilly with the Irish Repertory Theatre.

She also had the opportunity to work alongside and learn from the “wonderful” director and creative Nicola Murphy Dubey.

She also had the opportunity to work with Origin Theatre Company under the guidance of Michael Mellamphy.

For helping to make this show possible, Jodie would like to thank the team behind the Scene and Heard festival, the Fringe lab and the Irish Theatre Institute for the rehearsal space, the cast and crew, Kate, her family and friends, and readers for continuously showing up for the arts.

‘Cybersex’ performs in Smock Alley Boys School at 6.45pm as part of the ‘Seen and Heard’ festival on February 19 and 20.