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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
Entertainment
Jenny Valentish

Sylvia Plath Stole My Boyfriend: the 95-year-old who has turned her romance with Ted Hughes into a play

Liz Hicklin with ABC radio presenter Jacinta Parsons
‘I went around the world trying to recreate Ted Hugheses, but they didn’t match up,’ says Liz Hicklin, pictured with her collaborator, ABC radio presenter Jacinta Parsons. Photograph: Penny Stephens/The Guardian

Liz Hicklin had missed the ferry that could change her life. Pelting rain had made the drive to the Sorrento terminal perilous. Sitting in the car park, watching the boat glide off, she chastised herself. Go home. Don’t be ridiculous. You’re 92.

She got on the next ferry.

This decision would prove to be a sliding doors moment. As Hicklin, now 95, says: “I really should be knitting” – but instead she debuts her first play at Melbourne fringe festival this October: Sylvia Plath Stole My Boyfriend, about her romantic relationship with a young Ted Hughes.

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