“Interesting,” Thom and I said in unison at the conclusion of the opening night performance of Marjorie Prime at the Mark Taper Forum. Another patron, passing us in the isle, casually joined our one-word discussion with his own, “yes, interesting.” I love this about opening night communities; much like concert-going communities, our collective experience takes the “strange” out of being strangers. We are in it together. At home, my daughter, Grace, asked about the play.
“Well,” I said, “it purported itself to be a treatise on how technology is supplanting human interaction… but in the end, it was a play about loss.”
“Mom,” she laughed, “don’t use that in your review.”
At curtain, aging Marjorie (Lois Smith), is navigating her way through her loss of mobility, independence, and especially, her memory. With the lightest of touch, Smith carries all of the longing, humor, and fear of a woman nearing the end of her life. Marjorie’s daughter Tess (Lisa Emery) is a study in woe and regret, both of which wrack her very soul as her mother’s death impends. Tess’s husband, Jon (Frank Wood) answers her fatalism with a soft, imploring voice of optimism.
Though conflicted, even a little creeped out by the use of the latest technology, Tess provides a companion for her mom in the form of dashing Walter, (Jeff Ward). Walter is a robot replica of Marjorie’s deceased husband, created in the form of his youthful good looks. Walter Prime is an intuitive device, which learns as he goes and becomes more human along the way. Ward delivers an exquisite alchemy of human and robot that, in one moment seems sentient, and the next, just a machine. The surprises that are revealed as the play unfolds are part of its beauty, so as not to ruin the plot, the summary part of this review stops here.
Kudos to playwright Jordan Harrison for creating a wholly original premise. Though the cultural references were funny, they were too few and too fragmented to communicate in what year the story takes place and ended up a distraction as we tried to do the math. Director Les Waters make excellent use of the space and keeps the pace moving, but there was an overall flatness of tone, as if he intended to tamp down the very charisma of the play. The set changes were sometimes inelegant and in the final scene there is a distraction as an usher walks straight down the aisle (house-left) all the way to the stage.
In the end, Marjorie Prime is an interesting story about the human experience of loss with excellent theatrical surprises. I recommend it.
Photo cred: https://www.centertheatregroup.org/tickets/mark-taper-forum/2014/marjorie-prime/