Mary Page Marlowe by Tracy Letts: How Six Actresses Portray One Ordinary Woman

Mary Page Marlowe at 27. Gary Wilmes as Mary Page’s boss and temporary lover, with Tatiana Maslany as Mary Page Marlowe.

Six actresses — from Tatiany Maslany of “Orphan Black” making her New York stage debut, to Tony winner Blair Brown — play the title character in “Mary Page Marlowe.” The play by Tracy Letts, opening tonight at Second Stage’s Tony Kiser Theater, presents 11 moments over 70 years in the life of an ordinary woman.

As I explain in an article on “Mary Page Marlowe” in TDF Stages, the play presented director Lila Neugebauer with a challenge: how to get the audience to accept six actresses as one character. A dialect coach helped, but one unusual move was encouraging all the Mary Pages to sit in on one another’s rehearsals and share feedback. “You were allowed to comment on other people’s scenes because it was actually your character as well,” says Susan Pourfar, who portrays Mary Page at ages 40 and 44. “Together, as a community, we created the backstory of this woman.”

Click on any photograph by Joan Marcus showing the different Mary Page Marlowes. Not shown: Mary Page Marlowe as an infant (portrayed by a baby doll.)

Mary Page Marlowe at 12: Grace Gummer as Roberta Marlowe (Mary’s mother) with Mia Sinclair Jenness as Mary Page Marlowe.

Mary Page Marlowe at 19: Audrey Corsa as Mary Page’s college friend, with Emma Geer as Mary Page Marlowe

Tatiany Maslany as Mary Page at 36

Mary Page Marlowe at 36: Marcia DeBonis as Mary Page’s therapist, with Tatiana Maslany as Mary Page Marlowe

Mary Page Marlowe at 40. Kayli Carter and Ryan Foust as Mary Page’s children listen to Susan Pourfar as Mary Page Marlowe explain how she’s divorcing their father and moving them to Kentucky

Mary Page Marlowe at 44. Susan Pourfar

Kellie Overbey as Mary Page Marlowe at 50 in a confrontation with David Aaron Baker as her second husband.

Mary Page Marlowe at 63. Blair Brown as Mary Page with Brian Kerwin as her third husband, sharing good news for a change.