Jordan Harrison, a much-lauded American playwright, was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for his play, Marjorie Prime, an Al fantasy exploring the mysteries of human identity, which was later made into a film.
We live in a digital age. More often than not when we make phone calls to businesses and public institutions, we find ourselves talking to machines rather than real people
Marjorie (Anne Reid), 86-year-old facing dementia and liable to wet herself, spends her final days with a holographic-android 3 D projection, a computerised version of her deceased husband when he was a young man.
The android (Richard Fleeshman) tells her stories of her past life, notably with her daughter (Nancy Carrol), an angry, frustrated woman, with whom she has a bad relationship, and her daughter’s decent, kindly husband (Tony Jayawardena).
The android brings back memories. Machines have a much better memory than humans.
Marjorie is able to talk with the dead. Her family talk with her when she is dead. It is not always possible to be instantly certain, at any given moment, who is alive and who is dead and whether we are in the present, past or future.
Dominic Dromgoole directs a good cast. Anne Reid, 87-years old in real life, is impressive. Fleeshman charms as a convincing cyborg, half-human, half-machine, without ever resorting to any SF robotic movement clichés.
I can’t say I enjoyed Harrison’s play; nor was I moved by it. The idea behind it is interesting. It’s the actual script which is my disappointment.
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