Past Reviews

Regional Reviews: Florida - Southern

Mr. Marmalade
Outré Theatre Company


Jim Gibbons and Laura Ruchala
The Outré Theatre Company presents Noah Haidle's Mr. Marmalade. This black comedy is the story of a four-year-old girl named Lucy (Laura Ruchala) and her imaginary friends Mr. Marmalade (Jim Gibbons) and his equally imaginary assistant named Bradley (Christopher Mitchell). Mr. Marmalade is far from the sweet, attentive imaginary playmate usually conjured up by children in such tales. He is instead a seemingly twisted manifestation of the over-exposure to adult themes children are bombarded with on TV and in other media.

Mr. Marmalade is a cocaine snorting, alcohol drinking, foul-mouthed, businessman so obsessed with work that he barely even has time for Lucy. Not only is he emotionally abusive to Lucy, but he is physically abusive to his assistant Bradley, who shows up for his visits to Lucy with blackened eyes and broken bones. Jim Gibbons manages to convincingly wrap his acting around the inherent creepiness of the character of Mr. Marmalade, even in seemingly absurdist moments such as when his briefcase falls open spilling a full array of raunchy sex toys across the floor, without making him a caricature of a villain. Christopher Mitchell has broad comedic ability as Bradley, infusing welcome personality into even his entrances and exits.

Laura Ruchala proves herself a facile actress as the precocious Lucy left to her own devices by a negligent single mother named Sookie (Cindy Thagard). Sookie brings home her one-night-stands without a thought of Lucy, and bids hasty departures as she calls out "the babysitter is running late—you can take care of yourself for 20 minutes, right?" without waiting for a response. Though Lucy finds little comfort from either her mother or her babysitter Emily (Brianna Mackey), she possesses a relentlessly cheerful nature that propels her forward, armed with her pink tutu and Disney themed blanket and pajamas. Brianna Mackey is humorous as the barely there, perpetually annoyed and annoying, teenaged baby sitter we all dread—simply waiting for her boyfriend to come over for a little "alone time."

Luckily, Emily's boyfriend brings along his little brother Larry (Alvaro D'Amico) who is the youngest person to have attempted suicide in the state of New Jersey. There is a sweetness in D'Amico's portrayal that helps establish a chemistry between him and Ruchala. It is because D'Amico plays his character without guile that the scene in which he and Lucy play doctor while he is stripped down to his Superman underwear is more cute than offensive.

On the technical side—there were some lighting difficulties on the night attended, as well as an actor colliding with the set during an exit, but the actors handled a scene involving frantically pigging out on assorted 7-Eleven snack foods (supposedly shoplifted by Larry), from squeeze cheese to Doritos and whipped cream, so well, one can forgive them these oversights. My stomach hurt just watching them.

The adult themes seem at first out of place when projected into the world of a child, but Haidle's commentary is about how unfiltered adult themes are perceived by children who may or may not understand them. How are we to truly say how the images on TV, in film, on the Internet, in newspapers or in pop music affect the thoughts and imaginations of children? Surely the most disturbing moment in the show is Lucy's imagined infanticide of her own child. Despite all this, director Skye Whitcomb and the cast of actors provide a take on this play that remains entertaining, humorous and thought-provoking rather than dark and depressing.

Noah Haidle is both a writer and actor. His plays have premiered at the Goodman (Vigils), Lincoln Center Theater, Roundabout Theatre Company, the Huntington Theatre Company, Long Wharf Theatre, Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, South Coast Repertory, Rattlestick Playwrights Theater, the Williamstown Theatre Festival, and the Summer Play Festival in New York City, HERE Arts Center. He is a graduate of Princeton University and The Juilliard School, where he was a Lila Acheson Wallace playwright-in-residence. He is the recipient of three Lincoln Center Lecompte Du Nouy awards, the 2005 Helen Merrill Award for emerging playwrights, the 2007 Claire Tow Award and an NEA/TCG Theatre Residency Grant. He wrote the original screenplay for the film Stand Up Guys, starring Al Pacino, Christopher Walken and Alan Arkin. He is currently working on commissions from Lincoln Center Theater, Yale Repertory Theatre, South Coast Repertory, and is set to direct the film The Rodeo Clown, featuring his screenplay .

The Outré Theatre production of Mr. Marmalade will be appearing through April 13, 2014, at the Mizner Park Cultural Arts Center Studio Theatre. The Studio Theatre is located at 201 Plaza Real, at the south end of Mizner Park, in Boca Raton, Florida (the former site of the International Museum of Cartoon Art). Show times are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 pm, and Sunday at 5:00 pm.. For tickets and information you may call them at 954-300-2149 or reach them online at outretheatrecompany.com.

The Outré Theatre Company began in 2011. They are an emerging professional theatre company hiring local Equity, and non-Equity actors and actresses. Their vision is to be a theatre that nurtures the creative spirit of individuals and the community, through original and established works, utilizing a variety of mediums to engage the souls and imaginations of the artists and the audience. Their mission is to create theatre which stimulates thought, provokes reflection, and encourages activism.

Cast:
Lucy: Laura Ruchala
Mr. Marmalade: Jim Gibbons,br>Sookie: Cindy Thagard
Emily: Brianna Mackey
Bradley: Christopher Mitchell
George: Giordan Diaz
Larry: Alvaro D'Amico

Crew:
Director: Skye Whitcomb
Scenic Design: Jordan Armstrong
Lighting Design: Stephanie Howard
Sound Design: David Hart
Costume Design: Sabrina Gore
Stage Manager: Sydney Miller


See the current theatre season schedule for southern Florida.

-- John Lariviere