Conversations with deceased loved ones—thanks (or not) to Artificial Intelligence (AI)—explore the intersection of healing and truth in “Marjorie Prime,” Lakeside Little Theatre’s (LLT) second play of its 60th season, staged November 1 to 10.
Written by Jordan Harrison, “Marjorie Prime” was a finalist for the 2015 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. As the New York Times put it, the play “begins as a domestic comedy that gradually lands punch after punch, right where it hurts,” as family members grapple with aging and social conventions. With the rise of AI, this play couldn’t be more timely.
Set in a future shaped by 40 years of advancing technology, 85-year-old Marjorie spends her days with a handsome new “companion” programmed to recount her life. What will she and this AI companion choose to remember—or forget? Their dialogue, a kind of tone poem, conveys loss, remembrance, and the loss of memory itself.
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