Connecting to Mr. Marmalade

Breathe Art opened its new production of Mr. Marmalade last night with a good house and a very receptive audience. Mr. M is a small story of a four-year old girl named Lucy and her imagination over the course of an evening. It’s hilarious at times and heartbreaking at other moments. It’s one of those plays that kind of creeps up on you and makes its impact in subtle strokes. It’s also one of those plays, however, that when you are producing it, you know not everyone is going to connect to it. And that’s ok…

For me, the connection is immediate. And it isn’t because of my own kids, but the hundreds of small people I see everyday at school. They come in, some with lives better than others. Some with diets better than others. Some with parents who are together, and understand what it means to care for a child, and to speak with a child, and who understand that what a child really wants is sincere company. Unfortunately these are only some of the kids I see everyday. Far too often I see kids who are lonely, and I think it is only their daydreaming and imagination that gets them through. Their imagination becomes a place for solving problems, for creativity, for reassurance, and for comfort.

Mr. Marmalade doesn’t set out to raise issues or solve any problems. Instead it tells a simple story. And in doing so, has something to say.

Mr. Marmalade – February 12 to March 6, 2010

www.BreatheArtTheatre.com