Mr. Marmalade
The title Mr. Marmalade may be catchy, but make no mistake: this is Lucy's world; everyone else just lives in it. Accordingly, I found the opening moments of the Breathe Art Theatre Project's production misleading. The onstage presence of the title character (Joel Mitchell) before the play even begins suggests that Mr. Marmalade is the focal point, whereas the real omnipresence is four-year-old Lucy (Christa Coulter), the lens through which every stimulus passes.
Essentially, if Lucy's not interested in something, it doesn't exist. In her eyes, her New Jersey home consists of dull, empty walls and grown-up chairs with their backs to her domain. The play's ninety minutes cover less than twenty-four hours of real time, but for Lucy and her play world, timelines bend to her will. The primary challenge in director Kevin T. Young's staging is the unavoidable dissonance between the narrative structure mirroring a four-year-old's attention span and the deep investment in her real-seeming imaginary life. Coulter is sometimes an uncomplicated child, but just as often the preternaturally composed adult Lucy imagines herself to be, and the shifts are fluid, not overt. Young's blurred lines of make-believe and reality lend occasional unevenness (especially the inconsistent use of characters' "play" accents), but also generate an atmosphere of stream-of-consciousness immediacy that ultimately work for Noah Haidle's darkly comic script.
Lucy's relationship with her imaginary friend Mr. Marmalade is like a neglectful marriage: he's an important businessman with myriad vices, seemingly resentful of her naivete and carefree lifestyle. His absenteeism requires her to conjure a personal assistant, Bradley (Young), to make appearances in his stead. When Lucy meets Larry (Keith Kalinowski), a damaged and by-degrees melancholy boy her own age, the arrangement with Mr. M is jeopardized. With real and imaginary playmates alike, Lucy prematurely takes on the weight of the world by aspiring to live in an endless game of house, and an unhappiness beyond her years brings resonance to the play's final scenes. As the story progresses, subtle but unremarked-upon repetition suggests to us how Lucy's imaginary life is influenced by things she sees and hears, a lovely and subtle payoff by Haidle.
Perpetually onstage, Coulter's performance infuses the agony of adult problems with the inexperience of youth, adeptly balancing Lucy's innocence and precociousness. Mitchell finds dimension in a caricature, fixated on his creator even as he makes decisions that cause her anguish. As the only real person in whom Lucy expresses interest, Kalinowski is terrifically hopeful and exposed as he searches for something worth living for. Michael Carnow and Vanessa Sawson each plays a handful of supporting roles, the standouts being their dopey duo of other imaginary friends.
What a commendable decision to place a television far upstage, blank with disinterest even when other characters are purportedly watching it; with all the commentary about TV's influence on children, this girl couldn't care less, and her impression of the adult world is no less bizarre — yet prescient — for the omission. Furthermore, the TV played a part in a finale that was both clever and unbearably cute. The cruelly harsh lighting seemed to change according to a pattern, and the sound design featured a number of engaging between-scenes choices and a goofy homage to Back to the Future, all of which I liked despite being unsure what it meant.
Mr. Marmalade doesn't concern itself with teaching lessons or providing answers; indeed, not even the questions are terribly clear. The production will have some audiences frustrated with issues of story and theme, but as an exercise in immersion, this is a complete world that feels appropriately in and out of Lucy's control. With its highly experimental feel, not every moment worked for me, but I found myself reflecting on the choices and presentation long after leaving the theater. The show doesn't intend to be a crowd pleaser, but it may reward viewers with the patience and curiosity to get caught up in the unconventional tone. This is one of those plays to which those who enjoy it will likely be compelled to return.
February 16, 2010