THEATREOFDARE

It’s the age of artificial intelligence, and 85-year-old Marjorie – a jumble of disparate, fading memories – has a handsome new companion who’s programmed to feed the story of her life back to her.

 

What would we remember, and what would we forget, if given the chance?

 

In this richly spare, wondrous new play, Jordan Harrison explores the mysteries of human identity and the limits – if any – of what technology can replace.​

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AUDITION INFORMATION:

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Auditions for Marjorie Prime will be held January 23 & 24 upstairs at Dare Arts, 300 Queen Elizabeth Street in Manteo. This is a four-person, 80-minute play, so the ability to memorize lines quickly will be important. For these auditions, it will help to lean into the emotional undercurrent of each character rather than just surface traits. The play is quiet, intimate, intelligent, and deeply human, so our casting crew will be looking for subtle emotional truth over big theatricality.

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CHARACTER DESCRIPTIONS:

MARJORIE (Female, 60-90) (Stage Age: 80s)
Sharp-witted, elegant, and fading. Marjorie is living with memory loss, but flashes of her former brilliance still break through constantly. She’s funny, flirtatious, stubborn, vulnerable, and deeply lonely. She wants dignity and connection even as her grip on reality weakens. The role requires emotional nuance, warmth, and the ability to shift quickly between lucidity and confusion.

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WALTER PRIME (Male, Late 20s-Early 40s) (Stage Age: 35)
A “Prime” — an AI recreation of Marjorie’s deceased husband. Walter is attentive, calm, patient, and almost impossibly kind. He learns by listening and adapting, which creates an uncanny tension: he feels human but slightly incomplete. The actor should balance warmth with subtle artificial precision.

TESS (Female, 50s-60s)(Stage Age: 55)
Marjorie’s daughter. Practical, emotionally guarded, and exhausted from years of caretaking. Tess carries unresolved grief and resentment beneath a controlled exterior. She struggles with memory, truth, and her complicated relationship with her mother. The role benefits from restraint — much of Tess’s pain is suppressed rather than openly expressed.

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JON (Male 50s-60s)(Stage Age: 55)
Tess’s husband. Warm, empathetic, and emotionally available in ways Tess often isn’t. Jon acts as mediator and caretaker, trying to maintain peace while navigating the emotional fractures around him. He’s grounded and humane, but not simplistic — he also struggles with loss and uncertainty.