Friday, November 9, through Sunday, November 18
Village Theatre, 2113 East 11th Street, Davenport IA
Described by the New York Times as an “elegant, thoughtful, and quietly unsettling drama” that “keeps developing in your head, like a photographic negative, long after you have seen it,” author Jordan Harrison's Marjorie Prime will be staged by New Ground Theatre November 9 through 18, treating audiences to a futuristic tale that Time Out New York calls “an elegant study of memory as both escape and prison.”
A 2015 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Marjorie Prime takes place in the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie – a human jumble of disparate, fading memories – has a handsome new companion who’s programmed to feed the story of her life back to her. Harrison's work consequently asks: What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance? This fascinating achievement explores the mysteries of human identity and the limits – if any – of what technology can replace, resulting a work that, according to The New Yorker, “has all the hallmarks of the best science fiction; it’s clever in conceit, alive with humor, surprising in its turns, and terribly haunting by the time the lights go out.”
Directing Marjorie Prime is New Ground Theatre's founder and Artistic Director Chris Jansen, whose recent works for her company include Water by the Spoonful, This Side Up, and the debuting Lee Blessing comedy Uncle. Portraying Marjorie is Rae Mary, a castmate in New Ground's summer production of Love, Loss, & What I Wore whose additional area credits include the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's On Golden Pond and Genesius Guild's Murder in the Cathedral. And joining Mary in the company's 2018-19 season-opener are three performers with New Ground credits of their own: Jamie Em Johnson ('night, Mother), Matt Moody (The Nether), and Jordan Smith (Handle with Care).
Marjorie Prime runs at the Village Theatre November 9 through 18, with performances at 7:30 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sundays. Admission is $15-18, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)326-7529 or visiting New Ground Theatre's Facebook page.