Mr. Marmalade

by Noah Haidle

This is the Dramatists Play Service acting edition of the play Mr. Marmalade by Noah Haidle. From the Dramtists Play Service 4 men, 2 women (doubling): 6 total Flexible Set "…exhilarating…alternately hilarious and heartbreaking…through the alchemy of Haidle's scintillating style." —The New Yorker. "Haidle's fertile imagination has produced a world in which…reality and fantasy collide and intertwine…[A] roller-coaster saga…MR. MARMALADE marks its author…as a name to watch in the future." —LA Times (Titus). "…slyly amusing, envelope-pushing…Haidle has the courage of his convictions, which he has demonstrated in a mature and accomplished play…extraordinary…" —L. A. Times (Miller). "Haidle [has] an Albee–like bent for creating character capable of both kindness and cruelty…a poignant story [that] runs the gamut from hilarious to heartbreaking…" —Orange County Register. THE Lucy is a four-year-old girl with a very active imagination

Genres: Plays, Theatre, Drama, Humor, Comedy

52 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[M.K. Scotti]

I held my breath the entire time... in a good way.

[Luisa Fink · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wild

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

really really good!
I'm psychoanalysing Lucy for my essay. This is hard because there is so MUCH!

[Sydney]

Honestly not sure what to think about this one which is what I seem to be saying very often. This play is very surrealist for me. If I had to venture in how to give this play a synopsis its: what happens to children who have seen too much. Although I could imagine some would be uncomfortable by the situations described in this play but, honestly, with how I grew up a lot of these situations make sense and are incredibly realistic.

[Joseph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love a quirky script that can make me laugh out loud, and disturb me at the same time. Would love to direct this show. Great plot, and characters that are challenging!

[mengwe · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting

[Brennin Weiswerda · Rating 4 out of 5]

7M, 3W (Smaller with doubling)

A lovely, funny, weird play. Lucy's a lonely little 4 year old girl who "Has a vivid imagination." Her mother is neglectful (a cliche stays-out-late-and-sleeps-with-strange-men mother), and her babysitter's more interested in sleeping with her boyfriend than in paying attention to Lucy (whose loneliness is very vividly painted). Lucy's main made-up friend is Mr. Marmalade, who's in a romantic relationship with his assistant, Bradley (the most interesting relationship in the play). Throughout the play Mr. Marmalade's heroin addiction worsens, he goes to rehab, marries Lucy, has a baby with her, is unhappy, and kills himself.

Larry, Lucy's babysitter's boyfriend's younger brother, is a suicidal 5 year old (Larry can see Mr. M & Bradley, and has imaginary friends of his own--a cactus and a sunflower). He's a compulsive liar, and in many ways, his layers of self-deception ("I'm happy being alone." "I lied; I'm lonely") are more interesting than Lucy's.

You can see, at four years old, how Lucy could end up actually playing out all of the roles that she make-believes. She either plays house where everything is perfect, or a stilted form of 'doctor' that is all a fumbling exploration of sexuality, or fails to create a new reality if her partners don't play along--but whenever the games get to real, they all go a bit sideways, and everyone ends up unhappy.

One of the more interesting instances of make believe is Bradley lying to hide Mr. M's abusive nature. (I fell down stairs! Skiing accident!)

The play goes so quickly between Lucy in the real world, Lucy interacting with her make-believe friends, and Lucy playing make-believe with her make-believe friends, that there are very few satisfying sustained scenes. The strength of the play is the absurd premise and the moments of transparency where reality is revealed through how she creates her fantasies.

[larrabee :) · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think maybe I would really like a production of this in the same way that seeing Milk Milk Lemonade made me really love that play, but I’m struggling to see the vision when just reading this one. I think leaning into the ridiculousness could be fun for a while, but it might be difficult for it to sustain itself over the course of a whole performance — while it has some more reflective or heartfelt moments, I’m not sure if it has quite enough to feel especially interesting or new. For me, I don’t love when stories are mostly derived from “this young child knows about sex and violence! Isn’t that unexpected?” and don’t seem to know exactly what to do with it. There are shades of themes about domestic violence/child abandonment, and the implication is that Lucy has experienced and witnessed all kinds of abuse but, at least reading it, it feels mostly played for shock value. I think a good performance would make me feel differently.
A really interesting piece with well-written dialogue. If I see a performance of this and love it, I will probably change my mind.

[Gregorio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very funny, with great set ups and a good imagination. The play sort of hobbles at the end with where it's going, and it feels like there is one or two too many characters, but the set ups for jokes are great, as well as the pay off, even if it is a similar style of joke being set up over and over again. Very fun read.

[Megan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wow. This made me incredibly uncomfortable. It was really well done and I like it a lot, but still... To think what this poor little girl had to have witnessed in order to imagine these things. To think what she's been through... To think this must be part of her daily life. Wow.

[Dot Dunn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this at the bookshop behind the counter on a rainy saturday morning. Later, I bought it for £1.99, and now it sits by my bedside table with nobody understanding it.

[Nick K · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not a fan of adults playing children. I just find it irritating. I also felt the story fell flat and cliché at times, but I'd still like to see a well done production of the piece.