Marjorie Prime: A Play for Anyone Who's Ever Been a Caregiver

Although it deals with artificial intelligence, Marjorie Prime has a deep humanity that will resonate with anyone who’s cared for an aging relative.

Set in the near future, Jordan Harrison’s play focuses on Marjorie (June Squibb), an older woman with dementia. To help jog her memory, her conflicted daughter (Cynthia Nixon) and hopeful son-in-law (Danny Burstein) get her a “prime”: an AI replica of her late husband as a young man. All three characters grapple with the technology's benefits and limitations.

Harrison and director Anne Kauffman express these complicated themes in simple terms, making it easy for audience members to follow along. They have an excellent cast to aid them.

Squibb is astonishing; she’s the 96-year-old queen of Broadway. She brings real pathos to Marjorie’s struggles through her energetic, good-natured performance.

At the heart of the play, however, are Burstein and Nixon as Marjorie’s family. He wants to focus on the good days, while she takes a more realistic view of Marjorie’s illness progression. This push-and-pull is familiar to any caregiver; the pair plays it beautifully.

These themes rarely get presented on stage, and certainly not this well. Marjorie Prime shows that memory is fragile and worth preserving, with or without technology’s help.

At the Helen Hayes Theatre through February 15