Rosemary Laughlin/review: A performance worth discussing

Rosemary Laughlin/review: A performance worth discussing

Photo by: Robin Scholz/The News-Gazette Eric Beckley, as Walter, and Barbara Evans, as Marjorie, rehearse a scene for ‘Marjorie Prime’ on Monday, July 24, 2017, at the Station Theatre in Urbana. By ROSEMARY LAUGHLIN The final piece in The Celebration Company’s summer season at The Station Theatre in Urbana, “Marjorie Prime,” follows two comedies with a serious human situation set 50 years from now. Current named voices on smartphones or GPS devices make it easy to consider a 3-D artificial intelligence composed of “a few zillion pixels” and programmed to represent a deceased family member. Such an entity is called “a prime.” Fascinating and futuristic though it be, the novelty of such a presence takes second place to questions from time memorial: Is there a single true reality? How easily can an individual fool herself or himself about the past? Is it wise to provide an aging family member with rose-colored glasses? How does memory work in old age? Grown children who have had to deal with memory loss or dementia of aging parents may find the relationships and emotions portrayed here similar or not with their own experience. Some may agree that “pacifying” with pleasant cheer is desirable, while…


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