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Lucy Prebble Plays 1: The Sugar Syndrome; Enron; The Effect; A Very Expensive Poison
Lucy Prebble is one of Britain's foremost writers for the stage and screen. This eagerly anticipated play collection brings together her landmark plays for the first time, showcasing her work from 2003 to 2019. Beginning with her George Devine Award-winning play The Sugar Syndrome it continues through her explosive look at the biggest financial scandal in history, concluding with her pointed dramatization of the one of the most shocking news stories of the 2010s.
The Sugar Syndrome (2003) Dani is on a mission. She's just 17, hates her parents, skives college and prefers life in the chatrooms. What she's looking for is someone honest and direct. Instead she finds Tim, a man twice her age, who thinks she is 11 and a boy. What seems at first to be a case of crossed wires, ends up as an unlikely, and unsettling friendship between the two, which culminates in a shocking, and morally challenging revelation.
Enron (2009) One of the most infamous scandals in financial history became a theatrical epic in Enron, a dazzling exposition of the shadowy mechanisms of economic deceit. Mixing classical tragedy with savage comedy and surreal metaphor, Enron follows a group of flawed men and women in a narrative of greed and loss which reviews the tumultuous 1990s, and the financial chaos which has spilled over into the new century.
The Effect (2012) a clinical romance. Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a clinical drug trial. Succumbing to the gravitational pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved.
A Very Expensive Poison (2019) A shocking assassination in the heart of London. In a bizarre mix of high-stakes global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life. At this time of global crises and a looming new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careering through the shadowy world of international espionage from Moscow to Mayfair.
The Sugar Syndrome (2003) Dani is on a mission. She's just 17, hates her parents, skives college and prefers life in the chatrooms. What she's looking for is someone honest and direct. Instead she finds Tim, a man twice her age, who thinks she is 11 and a boy. What seems at first to be a case of crossed wires, ends up as an unlikely, and unsettling friendship between the two, which culminates in a shocking, and morally challenging revelation.
Enron (2009) One of the most infamous scandals in financial history became a theatrical epic in Enron, a dazzling exposition of the shadowy mechanisms of economic deceit. Mixing classical tragedy with savage comedy and surreal metaphor, Enron follows a group of flawed men and women in a narrative of greed and loss which reviews the tumultuous 1990s, and the financial chaos which has spilled over into the new century.
The Effect (2012) a clinical romance. Two young volunteers, Tristan and Connie, agree to take part in a clinical drug trial. Succumbing to the gravitational pull of attraction and love, however, Tristan and Connie manage to throw the trial off course, much to the frustration of the clinicians involved.
A Very Expensive Poison (2019) A shocking assassination in the heart of London. In a bizarre mix of high-stakes global politics and radioactive villainy, a man pays with his life. At this time of global crises and a looming new Cold War, A Very Expensive Poison sends us careering through the shadowy world of international espionage from Moscow to Mayfair.
- GenresPlays
385 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2020
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About the author
Lucy Prebble
10 books43 followersLucy Prebble is a British playwright. She is the author of the plays The Sugar Syndrome, The Effect and ENRON, and adaptation writer of the television series Secret Diary of a Call Girl.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 13, 2020
Lucy Prebble has only written 4 plays. They have all won shitloads of awards. They are all brilliant in their own ways.
She writes scale so magnificently because by blowing it up, by throwing in some dinosaurs, a barbershop quartet or a big dance number she gets closer to the emotional exactness that allows her plays to be so devastating. There's always an intimacy nestled in the chaos.
The Sugar Syndrome: 3.5/5 - It's a first play and recognisably so, but there is something unmistakably Prebble in the wit of the dialogue. There's the sharp moment of abjection too, which is inevitable if a play is going to be produced at the Royal Court. Most interesting though is how Prebble writes the men; always with empathy but with a large helping of disgust.
Enron: 4/5 - I mean, my brain feels like it's melting a little bit. It's bonkers, it's ludicrous, it's loud and brash and cartoony because so is the market is dramatises. And I actually feel like I understand a bit more about corporate finance.
The Effect: 4.5/5 - This play is terrifying. Like actually, genuinely terrifying. So so bleak. Also very romantic. Undecided as to whether those two things are connected, but they probably are.
A Very Expensive Poison: 5/5 - I admit that my memory of this play is affected by that incredible production at the Old Vic (I will never be able to listen to Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere without thinking of that totally thrilling and unbearably sad moment at the end of the second act) but christ, what a story, and what a way to tell it.
She writes scale so magnificently because by blowing it up, by throwing in some dinosaurs, a barbershop quartet or a big dance number she gets closer to the emotional exactness that allows her plays to be so devastating. There's always an intimacy nestled in the chaos.
The Sugar Syndrome: 3.5/5 - It's a first play and recognisably so, but there is something unmistakably Prebble in the wit of the dialogue. There's the sharp moment of abjection too, which is inevitable if a play is going to be produced at the Royal Court. Most interesting though is how Prebble writes the men; always with empathy but with a large helping of disgust.
Enron: 4/5 - I mean, my brain feels like it's melting a little bit. It's bonkers, it's ludicrous, it's loud and brash and cartoony because so is the market is dramatises. And I actually feel like I understand a bit more about corporate finance.
The Effect: 4.5/5 - This play is terrifying. Like actually, genuinely terrifying. So so bleak. Also very romantic. Undecided as to whether those two things are connected, but they probably are.
A Very Expensive Poison: 5/5 - I admit that my memory of this play is affected by that incredible production at the Old Vic (I will never be able to listen to Fleetwood Mac's Everywhere without thinking of that totally thrilling and unbearably sad moment at the end of the second act) but christ, what a story, and what a way to tell it.
January 7, 2023
Enron **** -- Enron is a magnificently imaginative play combining documentarian realism with expressionistic flourishes. It’s really hard to categorize the play – it depends what scene you open. It features rather naturalistic dialogue alongside the appearance of prehistoric raptors, a board of directors wearing pig heads, Siamese twin Lehman Brothers, ventriloquist and dummy Arthur Anderson, and so forth. I honesty don’t know how it was performed with things like this. It must have had a relatively huge cast for a contemporary (non-musical) today.
Plus, it’s fast paced and full of lively characters. I had a hard time putting it down. It makes a complex, boring financial story interesting and understandable.
It has all the elements of a great play … except one. I don’t think it really breaks through the surface of the story. The characters have flesh, the plot is excellent, but what does it all mean? Bashing Enron and its leaders is not hard to do – they’re all crooks after all. Is the play an indictment of all capitalism (especially the American variety)? Or is there something unique about these characters and this situation? Having unraveled the complexities of the case, the play doesn’t really leave the reader/viewer with anything other than “those guys are crooks” or “capitalism is all a fraud,” and both are gross oversimplifications. Personally, I look at capitalism like I look at democracy. It’s the worse form of economics except for all the others.
But I quibble. This is an incredibly good work that I highly recommend.
The Effect *** -- This is an interesting drama, but it felt slow in places and the sudden turn of events at the end came out of nowhere. This would probably be better to see than read, but I don’t know how it would be performed.
A Very Expensive Poison *** -- This play tells an interesting story in a rather rollicking manor, but I’m not quite sure what the tone of the piece is supposed to be. It flutters between naturalism, farce, idea play, and political drama. Prebble did much the same in Enron, but it doesn’t work here as well. I think that’s because Enron really doesn’t have a positive character – they’re all villains. But in this play, we’re supposed to feel some compassion and sympathy for Sasha and Marina but the format often pushes us away from them, or make them feel distant. Overall, though, I like the playfulness of the work and I’d like to see it staged.
Plus, it’s fast paced and full of lively characters. I had a hard time putting it down. It makes a complex, boring financial story interesting and understandable.
It has all the elements of a great play … except one. I don’t think it really breaks through the surface of the story. The characters have flesh, the plot is excellent, but what does it all mean? Bashing Enron and its leaders is not hard to do – they’re all crooks after all. Is the play an indictment of all capitalism (especially the American variety)? Or is there something unique about these characters and this situation? Having unraveled the complexities of the case, the play doesn’t really leave the reader/viewer with anything other than “those guys are crooks” or “capitalism is all a fraud,” and both are gross oversimplifications. Personally, I look at capitalism like I look at democracy. It’s the worse form of economics except for all the others.
But I quibble. This is an incredibly good work that I highly recommend.
The Effect *** -- This is an interesting drama, but it felt slow in places and the sudden turn of events at the end came out of nowhere. This would probably be better to see than read, but I don’t know how it would be performed.
A Very Expensive Poison *** -- This play tells an interesting story in a rather rollicking manor, but I’m not quite sure what the tone of the piece is supposed to be. It flutters between naturalism, farce, idea play, and political drama. Prebble did much the same in Enron, but it doesn’t work here as well. I think that’s because Enron really doesn’t have a positive character – they’re all villains. But in this play, we’re supposed to feel some compassion and sympathy for Sasha and Marina but the format often pushes us away from them, or make them feel distant. Overall, though, I like the playfulness of the work and I’d like to see it staged.
June 8, 2023
‘Something is happening to business. At the beginning of this century. Things have started to get divorced from the underlying realities. The best metaphor is this. Say we hold a competition here to determine who is the most beautiful woman in this room. Everyone gets a vote, the woman would be the one with the most votes and you’d win if you bet on her. Now the smart player wouldn’t look at all the women in the room and choose the one he finds most beautiful. No, the smart player would try and imagine what average opinion would state is the most beautiful woman, and vote for her. But there’s a level above that, where the really smart person would assume that most other people are doing the same thing and so they would try and choose the woman that most other people would think was most other people’s idea of the most beautiful woman and vote for her. And there’s even a level above that, and above that. And those are the values that determine prices, commodities and everybody’s future. And who actually is the most beautiful woman in the room … is irrelevant.’ – ‘Enron’
Admittedly, I am just not ‘intelligent’ enough to fully/properly appreciate Prebble’s plays. I thought the first two were brilliant despite being absolutely ‘feel-bad’ (is that the proper term for the opposite of ‘feel-good’?) reads. Actually nothing in this collection is going to make one feel ‘good’ after reading. The last two – I read one after another which probably affected my experience (badly). I didn’t like ‘The Effect’ at all (definitely the ‘weakest’ one in the collection in my opinion), so by the time I got to ‘A Very Expensive Poison’, my brain’s already a fucking bowl of jelly – which is a shame because I’ve heard/read that that’s Prebble’s best one. Without ‘The Effect’, this would be a 4 for me, I think.
‘I think you’re lovely. Sometimes I want to smash your face in, like now, to remind you I’m here, but I think you’re lovely. Will you not just write a little? Just to keep me going? Cos I just keep imagining what you could be doing and it’s sending me mental. I’m sorry but it is. I miss you. Obviously in a manly, independent, not bothered way. But I do. (Save as draft.)’ – The Sugar Syndrome
July 13, 2023
The Sugar Syndrome: very much a debut play that's rough around the edges and hasn't aged super well (this is the inevitability of writing about porn and sex in the early 00's) but Prebble's voice and ingenuity is super clear here.
Enron: jumping from Sugar Syndrome to this is complete whiplash. She's painting a much broader picture here with a great eye for visual tableaus and staging, while never letting the heart of the play run away and keeping the facts and financials in order. Maybe the message it's trying to tell feels more obvious in 2023 -- and for some reason I was expecting just a little bit more craziness? (wait till I see the Raptors on stage) but it's still a ballsy piece of writing and a fun stagecraft challenge.
The Effect: the plotting, the characterization, the themes, the arguments, the pacing, the dialogue, the relationships. Ugh. This is just a great piece about love, identity, and medical ethics -- it wears its heart on its sleeve while still hiding a few tricks up it.
A Very Expensive Poison: imo this is the gem of the collection. It's even more audacious in its storytelling and risks than Enron, but again the character work shines through at the core of the play. Its increasingly absurd metatheatricality serves its storytelling on so many levels but her main messages -- justice for the Litvinenkos and the hypocrisy of the British state -- stand out beautifully, and the ending is a real gut punch. (Side note: I love how Prebble writes her stage directions to clearly insert her own voice and asides in them -- I haven't seen anyone do that before and her plays are all the better for it.)
Enron: jumping from Sugar Syndrome to this is complete whiplash. She's painting a much broader picture here with a great eye for visual tableaus and staging, while never letting the heart of the play run away and keeping the facts and financials in order. Maybe the message it's trying to tell feels more obvious in 2023 -- and for some reason I was expecting just a little bit more craziness? (wait till I see the Raptors on stage) but it's still a ballsy piece of writing and a fun stagecraft challenge.
The Effect: the plotting, the characterization, the themes, the arguments, the pacing, the dialogue, the relationships. Ugh. This is just a great piece about love, identity, and medical ethics -- it wears its heart on its sleeve while still hiding a few tricks up it.
A Very Expensive Poison: imo this is the gem of the collection. It's even more audacious in its storytelling and risks than Enron, but again the character work shines through at the core of the play. Its increasingly absurd metatheatricality serves its storytelling on so many levels but her main messages -- justice for the Litvinenkos and the hypocrisy of the British state -- stand out beautifully, and the ending is a real gut punch. (Side note: I love how Prebble writes her stage directions to clearly insert her own voice and asides in them -- I haven't seen anyone do that before and her plays are all the better for it.)
November 17, 2020
Sugar Syndrome - 4.5 stars
A somewhat disturbing, provocative account of a largely platonic relationship between a recovering anorexic and a none-practicing paedophile. I think the protagonist considers herself edgy, and she creates a lot of dark humour, but when faced with the reality of the situation... Well, I won't do spoilers.
Enron - 4 stars
Wolf of Wall Street with velociraptors.
The Effect - 4.5 stars
Great character piece about a couple of test subjects immersed in an experiment together where they take drugs which significantly play with their brain chemistry (or is it all a placebo?). Their feelings develop in strange ways, but can they trust them?
A Very Expensive Poison - 5 stars
I wouldn't say that I loved this piece as much as some other plays I would usually reserve my 5 star ratings for, but this is certainly one of the best pieces of documentary theatre I've ever read. An in-depth study of the events surrounding the poisoning of Alexander 'Sasha' Litvinenko. The piece is a compelling narrative giving depth to the figures involved and a brutal condemnation of Vladimir Putin.
A somewhat disturbing, provocative account of a largely platonic relationship between a recovering anorexic and a none-practicing paedophile. I think the protagonist considers herself edgy, and she creates a lot of dark humour, but when faced with the reality of the situation... Well, I won't do spoilers.
Enron - 4 stars
Wolf of Wall Street with velociraptors.
The Effect - 4.5 stars
Great character piece about a couple of test subjects immersed in an experiment together where they take drugs which significantly play with their brain chemistry (or is it all a placebo?). Their feelings develop in strange ways, but can they trust them?
A Very Expensive Poison - 5 stars
I wouldn't say that I loved this piece as much as some other plays I would usually reserve my 5 star ratings for, but this is certainly one of the best pieces of documentary theatre I've ever read. An in-depth study of the events surrounding the poisoning of Alexander 'Sasha' Litvinenko. The piece is a compelling narrative giving depth to the figures involved and a brutal condemnation of Vladimir Putin.
May 13, 2024
The Sugar Syndome: I think I may have given this a higher rating had I read/watched this when it first came out, but twenty-one years later it does not feel so original, and I don't know enough to consider how groundbreaking it may or may not have been initially ⭐⭐⭐
ENRON (reread): how you could even go about writing a play like this truly astounds and impresses me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Effect (reread): A really innovative and moving play; I remeber being a little confused when I first read this a few years ago but it makes perfect sense to me now. What a play ! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Very Expensive Posion: Prebble really is the go-to expert on turning real-life events into engaging and thoroughly researched plays ⭐⭐⭐⭐
ENRON (reread): how you could even go about writing a play like this truly astounds and impresses me ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The Effect (reread): A really innovative and moving play; I remeber being a little confused when I first read this a few years ago but it makes perfect sense to me now. What a play ! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Very Expensive Posion: Prebble really is the go-to expert on turning real-life events into engaging and thoroughly researched plays ⭐⭐⭐⭐
December 7, 2020
The Effect *****
December 27, 2025
The effect is pretty good, amazingly written and fun to perform it!
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews