The Federal Highway seems an unlikely meeting place for Lindy Chamberlain and Courtney Love, two of the most misunderstood women of recent time.
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But in Love/Chamberlain the pair meet not far from Canberra, forming a friendship of sorts, exploring the idea of how we treat women whose behaviour, or perceived behaviour, deviates from social expectations.
It's a study of how women are judged, by each other, by the media, and how, even in the darkest of times, a connection might be the light needed on that dark road.
"If our versions of Lindy and Courtney can connect with each other then perhaps understanding is possible between unlikely people who share the experience of pain," director Cathy Hunt said.
"This play carves out space for the human experiences of losing one's husband, losing one's baby; intensified by public furore and being disbelieved. If the world can turn so quickly on these women it can also turn fiercely on any of us."
But how did these two disparate women meet? Playwright Bridget Mackey says they just appeared together in her head one night.
"They had an imaginary conversation, spoke just a few words to each other: Courtney rambled incoherently about Quentin Tarantino as Lindy tried to understand her," Mackey says.
"I started to think about what they might have in common, and it's more than an audience might first think.
"Their lives, like all our lives, are messy and imperfect. Both women exist in the public eye, they have lived in the same places at the same times, and have experienced motherhood, love and loss."
She said Love/Chamberlain explores an imagined world where, through fate or coincidence, these two woman keep returning to each other for guidance, despite their apparent differences.
Heidi Silberman, who plays Chamberlain, says she grew up with the story in the 1980s and it had been an incredible experience to look at the story from Chamberlain's perspective.
"It's interesting that when I talk to people about what we're doing there's this immediate reaction," she says.
"It's one of two ways, either she was harshly judged, or people still question what happened. It's terrifying that people still think that way, she was totally exonerated yet people still have this false idea of what happened."
Emma McManus is playing Love, and she too has found public perception of her character to be eye-opening.
"Researching the character, and learning how hard her early life was, and knowing that even her own father thought she murdered Kurt Cobain has given me a fresh opinion of her," McManus said.
"She was dealing with all this grief, with accusations, with her own career, and people judged her."
Do the women involved in the play believe the two would be friends in real life?
"I think they'd have to work through some judgments about each other," Mackey said.
"And that's kind of partly what the play is exploring."
Silberman suggests we come and see the play to find out the answer.
Love/Chamberlain runs from November 8-12 at the Ralph Wilson Theatre, Gorman Arts Centre, Braddon. Tickets from $25.
