Mary Page Marlowe offers a fragmented portrait of an ordinary life. Mary Page is an accountant from Ohio with two children. As the play opens, she is in the midst of explaining to her children that she and their father have decided to divorce. But this is not the beginning of a straightforward story. Spanning seven decades and running out of chronological order, the play captures the key moments in Mary Page’s life that emphasize the complexity and fragility of human existence. Six different actresses play the character, from a young girl on the cusp of adolescence, to her first divorce, to her third DUI. Tracy Lett’s one-act play beautifully captures the stages of an admittedly unremarkable life. Yet, by capturing these very ordinary moments, we see how extraordinary life can be.
Mary Page Marlowe guide sections
