‘Marjorie Prime’ Review: June Squibb Shines in a Haunting, Human Broadway Revival

At 96, June Squibb delivers one of the most extraordinary performances of her storied career in the Broadway revival of Marjorie Prime, which opened Monday night at the Hayes Theater. The Oscar-nominated actress — who began her stage career in Gypsy alongside Ethel Merman in 1960 — returns to Broadway after eight years with a role that feels like a full-circle triumph.

Squibb stars as Marjorie, an elderly widow whose memories are slipping away as she interacts with a humanoid recreation of her late husband — a “Prime” named Walter (played with eerie precision by Christopher Lowell). The result is a deeply emotional and unsettling exploration of memory, loss, and technology’s intrusion into the human soul.

A Story Both Futuristic and Heartbreakingly Real

Written by Jordan Harrison, Marjorie Prime imagines a near future where artificial intelligence can reconstruct lost loved ones based on memories and data. The “Primes” are designed to comfort the grieving — but as the play unfolds, it becomes clear they only amplify the ache of what’s gone.

Director Anne Kauffman orchestrates the story with a quiet, devastating rhythm, balancing science fiction with raw humanity. The living room set — designed by Lee Jellinek in soft, futuristic green tones — evokes both serenity and unease, reflecting the emotional dissonance at the heart of the story.

Squibb’s Marjorie, battling dementia, clings to fragments of the past while the digital Walter learns and adapts. Their exchanges begin as tender and humorous but gradually reveal the dangers of replacing grief with imitation.

“Everybody wants someone to talk to,” Marjorie says, her voice trembling with longing. “And more importantly, someone who listens.”

A Stellar Ensemble

While Squibb commands the stage with warmth and wit, the supporting cast matches her depth at every turn.

Cynthia Nixon is riveting as Marjorie’s daughter, Tess, whose skepticism toward the AI borders on desperation. Her tension, laced with buried grief and guilt, anchors the play in recognizable family drama. Opposite her, Danny Burstein brings quiet compassion to Jon, Tess’s husband, whose attempts to mediate only deepen the emotional complexity.

Lowell’s portrayal of Walter — part companion, part ghost — adds a delicate unease. His mechanical grace and soothing voice turn uncanny as the play confronts the price of synthetic comfort.

Themes That Hit Close to Home

Though written over a decade ago, Marjorie Prime feels shockingly relevant in 2025. Its questions about AI, identity, and digital companionship resonate in an era where technology increasingly mediates intimacy.

The production is less a cautionary tale than a mirror, asking audiences to reflect on how memory, love, and regret intertwine. By the end, it’s impossible not to wonder: Would you buy a Prime if you could?

Harrison’s text never resorts to sentimentality, instead weaving humor and heartbreak into a meditation on how humans reshape their own histories — and how technology might one day do it for them.

June Squibb in Her Element

Squibb’s Marjorie is nothing short of mesmerizing — funny, sharp, and heartbreakingly fragile. Her performance captures both the resilience and vulnerability of aging, infusing the character with a lived-in truth that no algorithm could replicate.

“She’s whip-smart, lovable, and ultimately heartbreaking,” wrote one critic after opening night. “She and Marjorie are a salt-and-margarita pairing.”

Her return to Broadway at this stage of her career feels both poetic and triumphant — a living testament to artistic endurance.

Verdict

Marjorie Prime isn’t just an early highlight of the Broadway season — it’s a profound statement about the intersection of memory, technology, and the human heart. Under Kauffman’s elegant direction, this revival transcends sci-fi to become something deeply intimate and universally relatable.

And at its center, June Squibb proves that she is — fittingly — in her prime.

Marjorie Prime is now playing at the Hayes Theater in New York City.

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