Theatre
Your pal
by Natasha Hay
What happens when a child gets too caught up in her imagination and grows up too fast? Young American playwright Noah Haidle redefines this loss of innocence in his grotesquely comic Mr Marmalade – yes, a comedy about an emotionally deprived four-year-old in New Jersey – which is given a startlingly good production at Auckland’s Silo.
Pretending is what kids do, of course, but when the eponymous Mr Marmalade – a violent businessman with a bipolar disorder and a cocaine habit – is the imaginary friend of four-year-old Lucy, well, that’s creepy, not cute. In pigtails and pink tutu, Lucy shows her extreme precociousness from the opening scene when she plays tea parties with her sinister buddy and asks him: “Why don’t you touch me any more? Is there someone else?”
The only child of a distracted and careless single mother, Lucy is used to being alone watching daytime TV and is clearly not a stranger to emotional abuse, so it’s nothing new when Mr Marmalade stands her up for brunch dates or slaps her around. When she meets a real-life five-year-old, Larry, there’s a ray of hope. Especially when he has merely a sunflower and cactus for imaginary friends. But it turns out that he, too, has his demons, and is suicidal.
Sounds grim? Sure, but it’s also incredibly funny, thanks to Michael Hurst’s spirited direction. He highlights the farcical nature and plot excesses by having the actors generate tremendous energy and paciness with appropriately cartoonish performances. Carrying the show, Hannah Tolich is terrific as Lucy: she morphs into a completely believable pouting four-year-old brat while managing to convey the little girl’s deep loneliness. Both Tolich and Paolo Rotondo, as Larry, niftily detail childish actions and inflections, being utterly exasperating and adorable. It’s hard to resist their completely silly food fight – a welcome relief after a dodgy game of doctors-and-nurses.
As Mr Marmalade, Andrew Laing is repellent yet charismatic, and brings a wicked sense of humour that adds irony and bite. Providing a lovely contrast, Paul Barrett gives a low-key and complex playing of Bradley, Mr Marmalade’s downtrodden personal assistant. And with a series of wacky cameos from the plant friends to horny babysitter-from-hell and loser boyfriend, Lauren Jackson and Charlie McDermott complete the excellent cast.
And though the playwright reiterates his themes over and over in this twisted parody of modern life, the playing and production more than compensate.
MR MARMALADE, by Noah Haidle; directed by Michael Hurst, Silo, Auckland (until April 15)
