Photo by Bruce BloySILVER CITY, NM—Virus Theater is proud to announce the New Mexico premiere of Jordan Harrison’s Pulitzer Prize-nominated play, Marjorie Prime. This is the first production in Virus’ “New Directors Series,” with Hallie Harris leading the way and several actors making their first appearance with the company.
Artificial intelligence surrounds us, and Marjorie, seemingly a victim of dementia, now has the assistance of a companion trained to interact with her concerning the story of her life. The question is: Does she really want to remember everything? Forget only parts? In an exciting and multimedia rendition of Jordan Harrison’s award-winning play, the Virus cast goes delves into what it means to be human—and how much we want technology to play a role.
Directed by Hallie Harris and starring Phyllis McQuaide, Gregg Jarrette, Jessa Tumposky, and René Medina. This production of Marjorie Prime will begin its run at the El Sol Theater with an evening premiere on Friday, April 5 at 7:30pm, and will finish with a matinee, on Sunday, April 14 at 2:00pm.
For more than two decades, Virus Theater has been producing live, original theater in Silver City. Virus is committed to creating original works of theater relevant to the lives of company members and of its local audience. The ensemble collaboratively creates original scripts through games, improvisation, exercise, and discussion. Virus brings elements of music, dance, and comedy to stories that explores aspects of humanity and community.
Marjorie Prime is a play of ideas and captivating dialogue, but Harris has also incorporated animation from local artistic legend Kate Brown and set and costume design from Ricky Herrin and Kelsey Patterson—sure to gratify audience members accustomed to Virus’ unique aesthetic.
Jordan Harrison (playwright) was a 2015 Pulitzer Prize finalist for Marjorie Prime, which premiered at the Mark Taper Forum and had its New York premiere at Playwrights Horizons. A film adaptation, directed by Michael Almereyda, premiered in the 2017 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. Other plays include The Grown-Up (Humana Festival), Doris to Darlene, a cautionary valentine (Playwrights Horizons), Amazons and their Men (Clubbed Thumb), Act A Lady (Humana Festival), Finn in the Underworld (Berkeley Rep), Futura (Portland Center Stage/NAATCO), Kid-Simple (Humana Festival), The Museum Play (WET), and a musical, Suprema (O'Neill Music Theatre Conference). Jordan has two new plays premiering Off-Broadway in the '17-'18 season: The Amateurs at the Vineyard Theatre, and Log Cabin at Playwrights Horizons. Jordan is the recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship, a Hodder Fellowship, the Horton Foote Prize, the Kesselring Prize, the Roe Green Award from Cleveland Play House, the Heideman Award, a Theater Masters Innovative Playwright Award, the Loewe Award for Musical Theater, Jerome and McKnight Fellowships, a NYSCA grant, and a NEA/TCG Residency with The Empty Space Theater. "
More About Marjorie Prime Director, Hallie Harris
Hallie Harris has been involved with theater for more than twenty years. Harris studied drama at University of Washington in Seattle, where she joined the college improv team The Collective and a street theater team Project Seattle Street Theater (PSST!), which lead to a lifelong love of experimental theater and improv. She had the privilege of studying with some incredible directors and actors and working in a vibrant regional theater scene. Later, she taught at the Academy of Children's Theater, in Richland, WA where she directed a number of performance groups, including the summer musical, and a program of devised work with youth in the Juvenile Justice System. She has been an ensemble member with Virus since 2015, when she performed in Snapshots, a devised piece based on the poetry of Silver City poet Bonnie Maldonado.
Hallie Harris on Marjorie Prime
“The show is incredible. Amazing acting talents, pretty nice production values, great script, thought-provoking subject matter. It's a steal at just $10 and supports a contemporary playwright and the very worthy cause of the El Sol Theater / Performing Arts Center. We hope to sell out every show. We hope no one misses it.
“It's a drama. It'll make you think and feel. There are light-hearted moments and there is some humor, but mostly it's a more introspective play that respects an engaged and thinking audience. It's about a family dealing with loss, about the intersection of memory and identity, and about how our family stories evolve from generation to generation.”
“It's a community production. There is a core of about 30 volunteers who've contributed a vast amount of time, thought, energy, heart, soul, and expertise. But there are even more people who've spent time supporting the Virus ensemble and the El Sol venue, as well as audience members who keep the performing arts viable in Grant County / Silver City.”
Phyllis McQuaide as Marjorie Prime
Phyllis has been active with theater for about 20 years and is among the founders of Silver City Community Theatre. She is fascinated by the importance of memory and how it shapes life. She is taken by the dynamics between the characters in Marjorie, with only four characters acting and exploring the theme of memory and how it shapes them.