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Back Marjorie Prime
Chapters (14)
  1. Cover
  2. Title Page
  3. Production History
  4. Characters
  5. Part One
  6. Scene 2
  7. Scene 3
  8. Part Two
  9. Scene 2
  10. Scene 3
  11. Scene 4
  12. Part Three
  13. Thoughts on the Primes
  14. About the Author

WALTER: Yes I would.

(Short pause. Jon glances down the hallway again.)

JON: You never got over it, of course. But it was Marjorie who had the hardest time. For fifty years she never said his name, she hid all the pictures. It was that hard.

(The feeling of a command in this; adamant:)

But she never forgot him, Walter.

She never forgot.

Part Two

PART TWO

1

Tess sits on the couch with Marjorie, who is a bit more smartly dressed and made up than before. Marjorie’s recliner has been replaced with a more stylish chair.

TESS: That’s a good sweater on you.

MARJORIE: Thank you. You picked it out for me, remember?

TESS (“You never wore it”): Three Christmases ago.

MARJORIE: Three years isn’t a long time. Not for me.

(Short pause.)

Remember the time we took Toni to the beach?

TESS: Of course I do.

MARJORIE: She was so happy, but we were finding sand in her fur for weeks.

She was a good dog.

TESS: Jon wants to get a dog.

MARJORIE: Oh?

TESS: He wants a fetch-the-stick kind of dog, but I was thinking a Shiba Inu.

MARJORIE: What’s a Shiba Inu?

TESS: They’re like the national dog in Japan. Everyone has one. They’re like friendly little foxes. Very clean, very quiet, very shy.

MARJORIE: Well what do you expect.

TESS: You mean

MARJORIE: It’s Japan.

TESS: Mom that is so

MARJORIE: It’s not racist it’s a compliment. Your poor old mother was born in the twentieth century, you have to give her time to catch up.

TESS: I think if you wanted to catch up, you’d have caught up by now.

MARJORIE: 1977. It sounds like the Middle Ages, doesn’t it.

TESS: The problem with a dog is we want to travel and who would take care of it?

MARJORIE: I would.

TESS: I wish that were possible.

Jon wants to go to Spain, but I’ve already been twice. I want to see Madagascar.

MARJORIE (Faintly generic): I’ll remember that fact about you and Jon.

(Short pause.)

TESS: Really?

“I’ll remember that fact”? Really?

MARJORIE: I’ve said something wrong, I’m sorry.

TESS: No it’s—not your fault. I’m just not very good at this.

MARJORIE: Good at?

TESS: Pretending that you’re . . .

(Marjorie just smiles pleasantly.)

(More confidential now) Sometimes you’re so good, you’re so her, like that bit with the subtle racism? It makes it harder when something—stumps you.

MARJORIE: Try to be patient with me.

TESS: I wish I could give you a spoonful of peanut butter. That would help.

(Marjorie smiles.)

You could smile less too. That would be more her. (Correcting herself) You. More you.

MARJORIE: Thank you for observing that rule. Pronouns are powerful things.

(Beat.)

Why don’t you tell me more about myself?

TESS: I don’t know where to start.