BWW Reviews: MARJORIE PRIME World Premieres at Taper

Marjorie Prime/by Jordan Harrison/directed by Les Waters/Mark Taper Forum/through October 19

Audiences may be somewhat confused, but nonetheless intrigued and maybe even stimulated by Jordan Harrison's world premiere play Marjorie Prime now onstage at the Mark Taper Forum through October 19. It's an insightful 80-minute one-act but would most likely work better in tandem with another one-act, to ensure a thoroughly fulfilling evening of theatre.

Whenever the issues of old age, loss of memory and death arise, people view a piece as bleak. And the idea of creating nonhuman beings to take our place after we're gone, on the surface is not an easy pill to swallow. What would transpire at some point in the future if we actually come to a system of programming computerized beings to replace us after death, even though the playwright admonishes that these beings are not robots and should appear as human as possible? Would it be for the good? In a note after the text of the play, Harrison defines 'prime' by saying that technology is so advanced that audience should recognize them as real and that the set and costuming should not appear futuristic, but taking place now. Primes are "artificial intelligence programs - descendants of the current chatbots - that use sophisticated holographic projections. They can move around, of course, but I suspect that they shouldn't pick up anything or touch anyone (and no such moment is scripted). It may be interesting to highlight, in contrast, the physical contact in scenes between human beings." Unfortunately, these author notes do not appear in the program. They clarify a great deal and should be included next time around.

When we first meet Marjorie (Lois Smith) she appears to be talking to her deceased husband Walter (Jeff Ward), but she is an 85 year-old woman and he is years younger. Perhaps she has conjured him up in a memory and this is how he looked when they were first married. Is he really there or is he in her mind altogether? In the following scenes it becomes clearer, and we see why Walter moves outside the perimeter of action and sits unobservant. Marjorie's daughter Tess (Lisa Emery), who has always had difficult communication with her mother, speaks with her husband Jon (Frank Wood) about her mother's condition, and how she is deteriorating. Eventually, Marjorie gives up. When she dies, Tess is shown speaking to a woman that looks like Marjorie but is called Marjorie Prime. Apparently, Marjorie Prime is being programmed to take her place. At the end of her scene, Marjorie Prime takes her place outside the perimeter with Walter. Even later, Tess's husband Jon (Frank Wood) is seen talking to a woman who looks like Tess, but, because of her seemingly young knowledge, is obviously her prime, as he has to explain to her how Tess has died. The 'new' Tess agrees to help him, console him about his loss as best she can.

All of these transitions are accomplished with fluidity as the 'prime' seemingly communicates with the human in a very simplistic, naturally loving way. Can the 'prime' foster better communication than that experienced between humans? Well, consider that if we program the beings to remember only what we tell them, then there is less chance for conflict, resulting in far more innocent, predictable, and pleasant encounters.

What is left unfinished in the play are some of the characters and events that remain ambiguous or without explanation. For example, Marjorie and Walter had a son Damian, who committed suicide. Later Tess also loses her will to live and kills herself when she and Jon are traveling in Madagascar. There is never a parallel alluded to in the script - did suicide run in the family? - nor do we get a clear focus on the relationship with Walter and either of his children. We learn that Marjorie conceals Damian's possessions behind the Christmas ornaments in the closet, but doesn't talk about him. Perhaps Harrison is trying to push all the unpleasantness into the background and concentrate on keeping the memories copacetic and pure.

Later, in the last scene, Marjorie, Tess and Walter sit on the platform as it rises above the eye level of the audience. We have to look up at them. Does this make these beings superior to us? Are they perhaps immortal? Their conversation is saccharine, a tad mechanical but not awkwardly so and laden with long pauses, as they seem to be ruminating their deep approval of love, and on that note the play closes. We are left with a concept that perhaps primes will provide a happier, more peaceful existence than the human one left behind. In some ways its delicacies seem to point toward heaven, with all of its mystery and beauty.

Under director Les Waters' steady pacing, the acting ensemble are all fine-tuned, with Lois Smith shining at the core as Marjorie, the most interesting character to watch. Her really humorous but uncomfortable reactions in the beginning turn calmer, more subdued, more childlike as Marjorie Prime. We see the same happen to Tess, as she passes from discontent human to blessed prime. We know very little about Walter and there is a huge gap as to Jon's outcome. Mimi Lien's set is completely whitewashed contemporary, giving no specific signs of a futuristic place, suiting Harrison's guidelines.

Interesting concept, with lots of food for thought, but not entirely satisfying as a single offering. Perhaps would work better along side another one-act of equally inventive but divergent nature.

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