Pulitzer Prize Finalist MARJORIE PRIME to Play Artists Rep
By: BWW News Desk Jan. 26, 2017
In this inquisitive new drama, a family grapples with the difference between a life lived and a life remembered as 85-year-old Marjorie struggles to keep hold of her memories and identity, gently assisted by an artificial version of her late husband, Walter. An exploration of aging, memory and technology, MARJORIE PRIME peers into what lies ahead and how our past is rewritten to face today.
"Harrison ambitiously explores themes as grand and challenging as our inevitable relationship to Artificial Intelligence technology, the ephemeral nature of memory and the stories we leave behind when we pass from life," said Artists Rep Artistic Director Dámaso Rodríguez.
"What we see in this play is an idea of our current future," wrote the play's director Adriana Baer. "It is not purely science fiction - the inspiration for this play came from Jordan Harrison's interaction with technology currently available. MARJORIE PRIME inspires audiences to consider our relationships with our devices - not in a negative, Luddite way, but in a curious, thoughtful way."
On January 23, the film adaptation of MARJORIE PRIME, written and directed by Michael Almereyda, premiered at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival starring Jon Hamm, Lois Smith, Geena Davis and Tim Robbins.
Jordan Harrison's play MARJORIE PRIME, a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist, premiered at the Mark Taper Forum and recently had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons. A film adaptation, directed by Michael Almereyda, will be seen in the Sundance Film Festival. Jordan's play MAPLE AND VINE premiered in the 2011 Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville and went on to productions at American Conservatory Theatre and Playwrights Horizons, among others. His other plays include THE GROWN-UP (2014 Humana Festival), DORIS TO DARLENE, A CAUTIONARY VALENTINE (Playwrights Horizons), AMAZONS AND THEIR MEN (Clubbed Thumb), ACT A LADY (2006 Humana Festival, Portland Center Stage), FINN IN THE UNDERWORLD (Berkeley Repertory Theatre), FUTURA (Portland Center Stage/NAATCO), KID-SIMPLE (2004 Humana Festival), STANDING ON CEREMONY (Minetta Lane Theatre), and THE MUSEUM PLAY (WET). Jordan is the recipient of the 2016 Horton Foote Prize, Guggenheim and Hodder Fellowships, the Kesselring Prize, the Roe Green Award from Cleveland Play House, the Heideman Award, the Loewe Award for Musical Theater, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships, a NYSCA grant, and a NEA/TCG Residency with The Empty Space Theater. His children's musical, THE FLEA AND THE PROFESSOR, won the Barrymore Award for Best Production after premiering at the Arden Theatre. A graduate of Stanford University and the Brown MFA program, Jordan is an alumnus of New Dramatists. He is an Affiliated Artist with Clubbed Thumb, The Civilians, and The Playwrights' Center. Jordan is a writer/producer for the Netflix original series Orange is the New Black.
Previously for Artists Rep, Adriana directed THE PRICE by Arthur Miller. Other Portland credits include DEAD MAN'S CELL PHONE and IN THE NEXT ROOM... OR THE VIBRATOR PLAY by Sarah Ruhl, BURIED CHILD and TRUE WEST by Sam Shepard, and THE ROAD TO MECCA and MY CHILDREN! MY AFRICA! by Athol Fugard (Profile Theatre, Artistic Director 2012-2015). Other directing credits include WOYZECK (Bay Area Critics Circle Award for Best Direction), THE MAIDS and NO EXIT at the Cutting Ball Theater in San Francisco (Associate Artistic Director, 2004-2007), and productions in New York including ROMEO AND JULIET, A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE, SEAGULL and THE HAIRY APE (Columbia Stages), and work at Atlantic Theatre Company Stage 2 and The Acting Company. New play development workshops and festivals include Profile Theatre's In Dialogue Series, Ensemble Studio Theatre, Bay Area Playwrights Festival, The Cutting Ball Theater, Primary Stages and The Lark Play Development Center. Additionally, Adriana has worked with Opera Boston, The Public Theater, Berkeley Repertory Theatre, San Francisco Circus Center/Pickle Circus, Theatre Communications Group, American Conservatory Theater, California Shakespeare Theater and Oregon Shakespeare Festival. Adriana is an adjunct professor of theatre at Portland State University. She holds a BA from Sarah Lawrence College and an MFA in Directing from Columbia University.
IF YOU GO:
MARJORIE PRIME
By Jordan Harrison
Directed by Adriana Baer
CAST:
Marjorie | Vana O'Brien*^ (THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, BROOMSTICK, 4000 MILES, BLITHE SPIRIT)
Walter | Chris Harder*^ (THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, WE ARE PROUD TO PRESENT...,INTIMATE APPAREL)
Tess | Linda Alper*^ (THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, THE PRICE, TRIBES, THE QUALITY OF LIFE)
Jon | Michael Mendelson*^ (TREVOR, THE SKIN OF OUR TEETH, MOTHERS AND SONS, THE PRICE)
CREATIVE TEAM:
Adriana Baer° |Director
Kristeen Willis Crosser| Scenic Designer
Gregory Pulver^ |Costume Designer
Jennifer Lin | Lighting Designer
Em Gustason | Sound Designer
Kaye Blankenship | Props Master
Luan Schooler | Dramaturg
Matt Pavik | Assistant Director
Sarah Kindler | Assistant Scenic Designer
Melinda Roddy | Assistant Costume Designer
PRODUCTION TEAM:
Artistic Producer | Shawn Lee
Associate Producer & Production Manager | Kristeen Willis Crosser
Stage Manager | Michelle Jazuk*^
Board Op | Jason Coffey
Production Assistant| Karen Hill+
Wardrobe | Will Bailey
Costumer | Clare Hungate-Hawk
Interim Technical Director | Nathan Crone
Master Carpenter | Eddie Rivera
Master Electrician | Ronan Kilkelly
Scenic Charge | Sarah Kindler
* Member of Actors' Equity Association, the Union of Professional Actors and Stage Managers
° The director is a member of the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers Society
^ Artists Rep Resident Artist
+ Equity Membership Candidate
GALLERY INSTALLATION:
For MARJORIE PRIME - a drama about aging, memories, and identity -The Geezer Gallery presents the art works of 101-year-old Estelle Meadoff with the exhibit "It's About Time." A unique element of this exhibition is that the featured collages and paintings are not what build connection to the play, but rather a reflection to the artist herself in terms of themes in the play. As memories fade, Estelle uses her painting to make her memories immortal, to document things that inspire her. In Artists Rep's Alder Lobby beginning February 7.
Artists Repertory Theatre's mission is to produce intimate, provocative theatre and provide a home for artists of varied backgrounds to take creative risks. Artists Rep is Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre company and is led by Artistic Director Dámaso Rodriguez and Managing Director Sarah Horton. Founded in 1982, Artists Repertory Theatre is the longest-running professional theatre company in Portland. Artist Rep became the 72nd member of the League of Resident Theatres (LORT) in May 2016 and is an Associate Member of the National New Play Network (NNPN).
Artists Rep's 2016/17 season offers a stylistically diverse season of seven imaginative and entertaining plays that grapple with family and the pursuit of happiness. The season features one World Premiere commissioned by Artists Rep's new play development program Table|Room|Stage, along with five Northwest Premieres (including a musical) by some of the best contemporary playwrights in the country, and one re-imagined classic featuring an all-female cast. The 2016/17 selections emphasize the aesthetic and scope of work Artists Rep has been committed to producing for almost 35 years as Portland's premiere mid-size regional theatre company.
Artists Rep has become a significant presence in American Regional Theatre with a legacy of world, national and regional premieres of provocative new work with the highest standards of stagecraft. The organization is committed to local artists and features a company of Resident Artists, 24 professionals of varied theatre disciplines, who are a driving force behind Artists Rep's creative output and identity. Artists Rep is committed to developing new work through the recently launched new play development program Table|Room|Stage. With T|R|S , Artists Rep strives to empower and support Oregon-based playwrights while also creating a Portland home for writers from around the country to develop their work. Additionally, this program will make a meaningful impact on equity in the arts by mandating opportunities for women writers and writers of color, and cultivating the next generation of theatre- goers by creating work specifically for young people (13 and up). Artists Rep makes a significant impact on the Portland arts community with its ArtsHub, creating space and offering a home to more than eight multidisciplinary arts organizations within its facility.
RESIDENT ARTISTS - Artists Rep productions feature the work of a core group of 26 multidisciplinary theatre professionals. Hailing from around the country, our Resident Artists are nationally renowned and award-winning actors, directors, writers, designers and educators who have chosen to make Portland and Artists Rep their artistic home. Working together and independently, they create inventive and theatrically rich experiences for our audiences while playing a major role in defining Portland's cultural landscape.
TABLE|ROOM|STAGE - Through T|R|S, Artists Rep is committed to becoming an engine for new play development. As a recipient of a $125,000 Oregon Community Foundation Creative Heights grant to establish a robust new play development program, the company is creating opportunities for local and national playwrights to ensure that underrepresented voices are heard on stage. The T|R|S program will commission a total of eight plays by 2017 - at least four of the eight commissions will go to writers of color, at least four will go to women, one play will be written for young adults and one will be the Oregon Play Prize, awarded to Oregon playwright Steve Rathje for his play SIGNS. Artists Rep has now extended five of the eight play commissions to Yussef El Guindi, Linda Alper, Larissa Fasthorse and Andrea Stolowitz.
ARTSHUB - Artists Rep is also home to the ArtsHub, serving as a community arts center, where its performance venues and lobbies buzz with creative energy and Portland's arts-loving audiences can gather. Artists Rep offers a home within its facility to a diverse range of artists and arts organizations. They can thrive here with access to affordable administrative, performance and rehearsal space, as well as a myriad of support services. Over the last year, hundreds of performances, events and happenings by Portlanders found a place in Artists Rep's building.
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