But Fleeshman, as the replica of her father, is a charmingly biddable sycophant. Jayawardena, as her husband, gets precious little to chew on. The imperious Reid leads his cast with a lightness of touch as Marjorie: a former violinist who could’ve married a tennis pro, but settled instead on Tess’s father, ‘because he was a better lover’.Ĭarroll immerses herself impressively in Tess’s troubled thoughts, tortured by feeling that her mother’s grief at the loss of her son left her neglected as a daughter - although that self-diagnosis is largely untested by the story. The psychological carnage of the characters’ delusional attachments could have been taken much further.Įven so, Dominic Dromgoole - the terrific former artistic director of Shakespeare’s Globe - offers a tidy and thoughtful production. Harrison’s 70-minute play is a set of theatrical snapshots, taken over time and, instead of turning into Westworld or The Terminator, it becomes an altogether gentler meditation on the nature of relationships.Īnd yet, as a one-act play, the implications of androids as electronic ghosts, providing emotional support to the living, is underexplored. It starts with Reid’s Marjorie being consoled by Fleeshman’s buff, 30-year old reincarnation of her late husband, Walter ![]() These therapy-bots are called Primes (hence the title), and can be programmed with all sorts of personal information, as well as being sophisticated enough to provide the authenticity of conversational non-sequiturs. This is no small irritation to her daughter Tess (Carroll), who still hasn’t got over the death of her older brother.Īnd in due course, Marjorie becomes a robot too, offering succour to Tess - before Tess herself becomes an android, offering consolation to her husband Jon (Jayawardena). It starts with Reid’s Marjorie being consoled by Fleeshman’s buff, 30-year old reincarnation of her late husband, Walter - a relationship reminiscent of Reid’s role with Daniel Craig as her young lover in The Mother, though with chit-chat supplied by Alexa and Siri. She’s only gone and popped up with Nancy Carroll, Tony Jayawardena and Richard Fleeshman in Jordan Harrison’s intriguing but faintly puzzling drama about an American family of the future, living with a succession of robot versions of their dead selves (told you it was puzzling). ![]() At the age of 87, with Coronation Street, Dinnerladies, Last Tango In Halifax, a Bafta nomination for her role in the film The Mother, and an MBE behind her, you might have expected to find Anne Reid enjoying life in the stalls.
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