Marjorie Prime

Thu, May 30 - Sun, Jun 30, 2019

Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh
O'Reilly Theater

Drama

By Jordan Harrison
Directed by Marya Sea Kaminski

In the near future, “primes” are programmed to look, sound, and smile like our dearly departed. With young Walter, Marjorie recalls the good old days of their marriage despite the frustrations of her rapidly failing memory. He acts and feels like family, even as Marjorie’s own daughter seems less and less familiar. Jordan Harrison (writer for Orange is the New Black) brings us this inventive, intimate play about a world where advancing technology can lead us back to who we are and to the people we love. Please Note: Flashing light sequences will be featured in this production.

Run Time: One Hour and Twenty Minutes with a 15 Minute Intermission.

Accessibility:

412-316-1600

Featuring

Ben Blazer

Walter Prime

This modal contains biographic information about Ben Blazer

Ben Blazer

Walter Prime

BEN BLAZER (Walter Prime) is very happy to return to Pittsburgh Public Theater for Marjorie Prime and even happier to be collaborating with Marya on this meaningful play. He was privileged to appear last season as Nugget in Equus and Bernardo in Hamlet. Ben is a local stage/camera/voice actor and an assistant professor of movement and acting at Point Park University. He has trained extensively in the physical approaches to performance of Tadashi Suzuki and Shogo Ohta and holds a BA in acting from the University of Pittsburgh and an MFA in acting from the University of South Carolina. Ben is a proud member of Pittsburgh Local 489 Studio Mechanics Union, Actors’ Equity Association, and the P3/East Studio.

Daina Griffith

Tess

This modal contains biographic information about Daina Griffith

Daina Griffith

Tess

DAINA MICHELLE GRIFFITH* (Production Understudy) - This show marks Daina’s 12th production with The Public! Select Regional: City Theatre, Quantum, Arizona Theatre Company, Merrimack, The Gateway, Human Race Theatre, KC Starlight. Select Film/TV: The Dark Knight Rises, Where’d You Go, Bernadette, Hollidaysburg, Pittsburgh Dad’s Streetlight Stories (Deb), Archive 81, Manhunt: Deadly Games, Outsiders. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Performer of the Year Performer of the Year 2013, BroadwayWorld’s Arts Educator of the Decade for Western PA in 2020.

Nathan Hinton

Jon

This modal contains biographic information about Nathan Hinton

Nathan Hinton

Jon

NATHAN HINTON (Jon) is thrilled to be back home working with this incredible group of artists. A member of the first Broadway touring company of Angels in America, Nathan’s recent credits consist of Memphis in Two Trains Running at Triad Stage, Zachariah in Blood Knot with Mosaic Theater Company, Friar Laurence in Romeo and Juliet with Shakespeare Theatre Company, Mitch in A Streetcar Named Desire with Virginia Stage Company, and the New York premiere of Dan Hoyle’s The Block Off-Broadway with The Working Theater. Other New York credits include Robert O’Hara’s Insurrection: Holding History at The Public Theater, Michael Bradford’s Living in the Wind at American Place Theatre, and Keith Josef Adkin’s PITBULLS at Rattlestick Playwrights Theater. His regional theater credits include Twelfth Night, Take Me Out, The Piano Lesson, A Raisin in the Sun, and The Call at Yale Repertory Theater, Philadelphia Theatre Company, Dallas Theater Center, Delaware Theatre Company, and Arkansas Repertory Theatre. Television credits include “Manifest,” “Madam Secretary,” “Elementary,” “The Good Wife,” and the new military legal series “The Code.” Nathan is a member of The Actors Center. www.nathananthonyhinton.com

Jill Tanner

Marjorie

This modal contains biographic information about Jill Tanner

Jill Tanner

Marjorie

JILL TANNER (Marjorie) is pleased to return to Pittsburgh Public Theater where she appeared in Mary Stuart, Romeo and Juliet, Absurd Person Singular, and Misalliance. Off-Broadway: Horton Foote’s Traveling Lady at the Cherry Lane Theater, Hindle Wakes, A Day by the Sea, A Picture of Autumn at the Mint Theater. The Golden Bowl with Pilobolus Dance Company. Broadway: Dividing the Estate, Enchanted April, My Fat Friend. Regional: Hartford Stage Company, Enchanted April, Guthrie Theater, Richard III, ACT San Francisco, The Rivals, Coriolanus, You Never Can Tell, Denver Theater Center, The Importance of Being Earnest, Enemy of the People, McCarter Theater: Premiere of Horton Foote’s Vernon Early, Last Night of Ballyhoo, Ghosts, The Cherry Orchard, Alabama Shakespeare Festival. Recorded more than 100 books for the Library of Congress and Recorded Books. Training: Royal Academy of Dramatic Art.

Jordan Harrison

Playwright

This modal contains biographic information about Jordan Harrison

Jordan Harrison

Playwright

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/National Asian American Theatre Company), Kid-Simple (Humana Festival), The Museum Play (Washington Ensemble Theatre), The Amateurs (Vineyard Theatre), Log Cabin (Playwrights Horizons), and a musical, Suprema (O’Neill Music Theatre Conference). 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 New York State Council on the Arts grant, and a NEA/TCG Residency with The Empty Space Theater. His children’s musical, The Flea and the Professor, won the Barrymore Award for Best Production after premiering at the Arden Theatre. A graduate of Stanford University and the Brown MFA program, Jordan is an alumnus of New Dramatists. For three seasons, he was a writer and producer for the Netflix original series “Orange is the New Black.”

Marya Sea Kaminski

Director

This modal contains biographic information about Marya Sea Kaminski

Marya Sea Kaminski

Director

MARYA SEA KAMINSKI (Director) is honored to co-lead Pittsburgh Public Theater. She came to Pittsburgh after four years as the Associate Artistic Director at Seattle Repertory Theatre. One of the highlights of her tenure there was spearheading a collaboration with New York’s Public Theater and Dallas Theatre Center to create Public Works Seattle. This initiative was based on long-term, authentic partnerships between regional theaters and local non-profits and designed to make theater of, by, and for the people. Earlier in her career, Marya co-founded the Washington Ensemble Theatre and served as Co-Artistic Director there for five years, leading season planning and new play development. She has worked as a director, writer, producer and actor and is a proud member of the Stage Directors and Choreographers Society, Actors’ Equity Association, and the Society of Authors and Dramatic Composers. Marya has taught and lectured on Theater at Hollins University, the University of Washington, and at Cornish College of the Arts, where she was awarded the Drama Department’s Award for Teaching Excellence. She has also been honored with the Genius Award in Theater from the Seattle newsweekly, The Stranger, and has been recognized as an Artist of the Year by Seattle Magazine. Marya holds a BA in English and Theatre Arts from the University of Pennsylvania and an MFA from the University of Washington’s School of Drama.

Full Cast and Crew

Video

Save up to 30% on groups of 10 or more! For student and senior groups, call Casey at 412.316.8200x704

ConfluenceTheater.org

Pittsburgh Public Theater and Pittsburgh CLO have come together as Confluence Theater of Pittsburgh! Join the journey at ConfluenceTheater.org.