Mr. Marmalade
Written by Noah Haidle
Directed by Amber Gensterblum
The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map)
thru Sept 1 | tickets: $10-$15 | more info
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Vulgarity and shocking subject matter do not a good comedy make
Dream Sequence Theater presents
Mr. Marmalade
Review by Patrick Dyer
Sometimes, you can tell if a show is going to work based on the premise alone. If a play or movie or TV show can’t hook its audiences just on the premise, then chances are it probably won’t succeed. Well, the premise for Dream Sequence Theater’s production of Mr. Marmalade is that a four year old named Lucy has an imaginary friend named Mr. Marmalade who does cocaine and beats her like he’s an abusive husband. Can you tell whether or not this will succeed? Well, one of Lucy’s first lines to Mr. Marmalade is “Why won’t you touch me?” So you tell me.
The play opens on the tutu-clad Lucy (Christine Worden) playing “pretend” with the eponymous Mr. Marmalade after her mother, Sookie (Michelle Ziccarelli), leaves her alone with her babysitter, Emily (Liz Ziedt). Mr. Marmalade (Zach Finch) is an uptight businessman addicted to both sex and cocaine with an awkward personal assistant named Bradley (David Frances Moore). When Emily’s boyfriend George (Dean Beaver) and his younger brother Larry (Paul Deziel) – known as the “youngest suicide attempt in the history of New Jersey” – come into the picture, Lucy and Larry form a connection. However, Larry’s own imaginary friends – a cactus (Beaver) and a sunflower (Ziedt) – ruin everything. Lucy turns to Mr. Marmalade for support only to be abused as they “marry” and “have a baby” right before Lucy is brought back to reality with the return of Sookie and her lover, Bob (Marc O’Broin).
The problems with the play are evident from the start. It has the feel of a rejected SNL skit that goes on for far too long. Lucy as a character is supposed to be a cute little four-year-old, so why does she talk like she’s ten and have such violent and disturbing imaginary friends? We’re never given a reason about why she acts this way aside from being adorable and cute. Trust me, there’s nothing cute about a four-year-old imagining graphic things like abortion, spousal abuse, and even child murder. I can’t think of a more desperate attempt to get a cheap laugh from the audience than what Noah Haidle has done here. He has fallen into the trap of trying to shock and disturb their audiences into laughing rather than invoking character or spontaneous behavior from their situations. Lucy imagining being beaten by a drunken Mr. Marmalade is not funny; it’s uncomfortable and cringe-worthy. But Lucy’s not the only one with issues. Larry is by far the most disturbing character in the play, but of course you’re supposed to find his suicidal attempts and self-inflicted cuts on his wrist funny and charming as well as Lucy and Larry playing a very risqué pretend version of “Doctor.”
The cast seem to be having fun doing a play this sadistic and confused, but that’s also part of the problem. They go through these disturbing moments with such ease that you wonder if they ever questioned whether or not this script was even funny. Worden acts like an out-of-control ten-year-old (but then again her dialog is nothing a four-year-old would say). Deziel is too nonchalant to make a child as psychological messed up as Larry work. Finch is too one-note and broad as Mr. Marmalade, making his already unbelievable actions – like hitting Lucy – even more unbelievable. The rest of the cast just go through the motions not making their characters very distinguishable or interesting.
I hope this trend among playwrights writing black comedies that only shock and offend comes to an end. Comedy not only comes from spontaneous human behavior and struggle, but through the joy of both the creators of the comedy and the observers. If your only goal is to shock and offend, then the laughter you get from the audience will not be genuine; it will be obligatory and uncomfortable. If you’re going to make audiences feel uncomfortable, there has to be a strong justification for it other than disturbed children being beaten up by coke addicts.
Rating: ★
Mr. Marmalade continues through September 1st at The Den Theatre, 1333 N. Milwaukee (map), with performances Thursdays-Saturdays at 7:30pm, Sundays 3pm. Tickets are $10-$15, and are available by phone (800-838-3006) or online through BrownPaperTickets.com (check for half-price tickets at Goldstar.com). More information at their Facebook page. (Running time: 1 hour 15 minutes, NO intermission)
Photos by Trevor Rigsby Photography
artists
cast
Christine Worden (Lucy), Zach Finch (Mr. Marmalade), Paul Deziel (Larry), David Francis Moore (Bradley), Liz Ziedt (Emily, Sunflower), Dean Beever (George, Cactus), Michelle Ziccarelli (Sookie), Marc O’Broin (Bob)
behind the scenes
Amber Gensterblum (director), John Kelly (lighting design, production management), Andrea Awad (set design), Delia Ridenour (costume design), Hannah K. Watson (music), Kate Hardiman (dramaturg), Paul Deziel (asst. production management), Gabby Welsh (stage management)
13-0826