AI Workplace Ethics Take Center Stage in Sydney
A new play in Sydney uses a broken elevator to explore AI workplace ethics and corporate culture. The Elevator, written by Eloise Snape, premieres at the Ensemble theatre. It traps three women in a malfunctioning AI-operated elevator. The result is a tense, funny, and deeply unsettling look at how tech companies treat people.
The play's premise is simple. Margot (Leanna Walsman) is the CEO of Eco Engines, a tech company. She returns to work one day after giving birth. The building's AI-operated elevator breaks down. Margot is trapped with Alison (Shirong Wu), the public relations crisis manager, and Ollie (Di Adams), the janitor. Outside the elevator, an AI-operated vehicle designed by Eco Engines has crashed into a man. He is in critical condition.
This setup allows Snape to examine AI workplace ethics from multiple angles. The AI elevator fails. The AI car causes harm. The company's leadership uses AI to control the narrative. The play asks who bears the cost when technology fails.
Corporate Culture Critique Through Character
Margot embodies the toxic side of corporate culture. She was six months pregnant when hired. Her appointment was a result of feminist virtue-signalling after the previous male CEO was stood down on sexual assault allegations. But his voice remains in the company's AI model, Taurus. His misogynistic legacy suffuses the company's operations.
Margot has adopted his ruthless approach. She corrects Alison's draft press statement with lashings of spin. It was an "incident" not a "crash." The person is a "pedestrian," not a "victim." She dehumanises people to get ahead. She also dehumanises herself, prolonging the need to pump breast milk rather than admitting she needs help.
Alison experiences racism in the workplace. She is frequently mistaken for the only other Asian female employee. Margot dismisses this as something she should simply get used to. The toxicity of corporate life strangles these women in different ways.
Ollie offers a contrast. She was a cab driver in London and can recite directions on cue. She tells Margot, "I think we have different ideas of what success looks like." Margot responds by telling Ollie she is "not a person of consequence."
Feminist Corporate Critique and the Cost of Success
The play offers a feminist corporate critique that feels urgent. Snape was struck after reading former Facebook executive Sarah Wynn-Williams' account of typing a memo on her laptop between birth contractions. For women, negotiating caretaking roles and careers is an ongoing challenge.
Margot's body is literally leaking. She covers it up rather than asking for help. The play shows how corporate culture forces women to hide their humanity. The gender pay gap and childcare costs disincentivise women from working. The play makes these structural problems visible.
The set and lighting, designed by Kelsey Lee, are elegant. A futuristic elevator holds all the action. Director Anthea Williams creates easy dynamism within this restricted setting. The emotional arcs of each character are carefully sculpted. Margot, Alison, and Ollie all reach their breaking points. These moments make for stunning performances.
Alison's metamorphosis from anxious people-pleaser to something more authentic is particularly satisfying. Wu navigates between comedy and extraordinary emotional depth.
What the Play Reveals About Tech Company Culture
The Elevator is a tech company culture critique disguised as a thriller. It raises the question of how to be an ethical person while operating within an unethical system. Margot urges Ollie to accept AI because it's a losing battle. Ollie's politics are more resistant and critical, informed by environmental consciousness and the richness of a life lived on her own terms.
The play makes us question what we value. It asks us to reconsider what success looks like. It observes the often invisible labour and sacrifices of women. Snape's dialogue sometimes spells out class differences rather than implying them. But an astonishing twist at the end justifies some of this heavy-handedness.
The play runs until October 18 at the Ensemble theatre in Sydney. It is a satisfying, socio-politically resonant work. In the expert hands of Williams, it is also thrilling theatre.
Why This Matters for Remote Work and Hiring
For professionals working in tech, the play offers a mirror. The AI workplace ethics questions it raises apply to remote teams, hiring practices, and corporate culture. When companies use AI to monitor remote workers, who is accountable? When hiring decisions are influenced by virtue-signalling rather than genuine inclusion, what is the cost?
The play does not offer easy answers. It invites audiences to sit with discomfort. That discomfort is productive. It pushes us to demand better from the companies we work for and the systems we build.
If you are in Sydney, see The Elevator before October 18. If you are not, consider what the play reveals about your own workplace. The elevator is a confined space. But the questions it raises are vast.