Reviews
Lucy Prebble Plays 1: The Sugar Syndrome; Enron; The Effect; A Very Expensive Poison by Lucy Prebble
emsemsems's review
3.0
‘Something is happening to business. At the beginning of this century. Things have started to get divorced from the underlying realities. The best metaphor is this. Say we hold a competition here to determine who is the most beautiful woman in this room. Everyone gets a vote, the woman would be the one with the most votes and you’d win if you bet on her. Now the smart player wouldn’t look at all the women in the room and choose the one he finds most beautiful. No, the smart player would try and imagine what average opinion would state is the most beautiful woman, and vote for her. But there’s a level above that, where the really smart person would assume that most other people are doing the same thing and so they would try and choose the woman that most other people would think was most other people’s idea of the most beautiful woman and vote for her. And there’s even a level above that, and above that. And those are the values that determine prices, commodities and everybody’s future. And who actually is the most beautiful woman in the room … is irrelevant.’ – ‘Enron’
Admittedly, I am just not ‘intelligent’ enough to fully/properly appreciate Prebble’s plays. I thought the first two were brilliant despite being absolutely ‘feel-bad’ (is that the proper term for the opposite of ‘feel-good’?) reads. Actually nothing in this collection is going to make one feel ‘good’ after reading. The last two – I read one after another which probably affected my experience (badly). I didn’t like ‘The Effect’ at all (definitely the ‘weakest’ one in the collection in my opinion), so by the time I got to ‘A Very Expensive Poison’, my brain’s already a fucking bowl of jelly – which is a shame because I’ve heard/read that that’s Prebble’s best one. Without ‘The Effect’, this would be a 4 for me, I think.
‘I think you’re lovely. Sometimes I want to smash your face in, like now, to remind you I’m here, but I think you’re lovely. Will you not just write a little? Just to keep me going? Cos I just keep imagining what you could be doing and it’s sending me mental. I’m sorry but it is. I miss you. Obviously in a manly, independent, not bothered way. But I do. (Save as draft.)’ – The Sugar Syndrome
zoolmcg's review
dark
emotional
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I picked this up in an effort to broaden the types of things I read, since the only plays I’d read before this were Shakespeares and A Streetcar Named Desire (both of which were for school). And now while this was also for school (for university), I enjoyed it just as much as the others I’ve read.
The four plays in this collection all have their own strengths and Prebble executes the ideas within them almost perfectly. Each has a significant message behind it, whether it’s fictional or based on true events. I found the way she was able to keep me engaged as an audience member reading them was extremely amazing, especially with all the exposition at the beginning of Enron and much of the political talk in A Very Expensive Poison.
The first play, The Sugar Syndrome was a great introduction to Prebble’s style, which I knew would be amazing from her work on HBO’s Succession, but was further proved here. With just four characters, the scope and the reach of their stories and personalities are fully fleshed out and made interesting, especially they dynamics between them. The difference in the way Dani treats Lewis in the beginning and the ending vs how she views Tim in the beginning and the ending was a development I adored. The fact that she was knowingly associating with an admitted pedophile just because she didn’t deem herself victim worthy to him (being a girl and too ‘old’) was so twisted and interesting. Lewis shows immediate disdain for Tim, and the confrontation scene was long awaited as I read along, and the ending with the repulsion to the material on his laptop was a satisfying end, to know that Dani sees the truth of what Tim is and has the vile evidenced right in front of her. The recurring theme of the cat was also amazing, and I liked how it mirrored Dani. The idea that it had other neighbours feeding it in the same way Dani receives attention from men online and meets up with two of them, but later comes home and sees the horror of both relationships and (presumably) will stay home for good. As for the title, I can see how it relates to the vices of each character; Dani and her eating disorder, Lewis and his static life still living with his parents, Tim and his pedophilic ideation/behaviours, and Jan with the justification of her husband’s affair. With it being the first of the collection, I immediately warmed to it, and remained extremely optimistic for the ones to come.
So, with Enron following I had great hopes for the story much like the last, and in the end I wasn’t disappointed. I will admit that I found the start rather slow, there was a lot of business jargon thrown around that I assume would be easier to sit through if I were a member of an actual audience watching the play be performed. Still, I suppose of this exposition is necessary, especially when it’s a telling of a true scandal, and by the end of the first act, I really was very invested in why was going on. I particularly loved the use of the ‘raptors’ and the recurring presence of Skilling’s daughter. They added a real drama to it all, making the gritty reality of it all be broken up into a more entertaining show. When Roe is chased off stage by them to signify her end at Enron, I thought it was a really clever use of the raptors’ threat, the way they’re made real and controlling, instead of having a scene where Skilling sat her down to tell her the news. The stocks dropping and rising was also a super interesting way to visualise/portray not only the downfall of the company, but also of Skilling himself. His character is corrupted more and more, and the desperation really sinks in during moments of begging at the stocks. My favourite part, though, was easily the confrontation he has with his lawyer when admitting to the advantage he took to fraudulently profit for the company. The dialogue is so perfect, and especially from a readers perspective, the punctuation included really adds to the desperation that you visualise Skilling has. I certainly would love to see this performed at some point.
Onto The Effect, I have to admit this wasn’t my favourite of the collection. I really enjoyed the in depth study of human behaviour and the psychology of things like love, desire, and depression, but something about it just didn’t hit as hard as the others did for me. I found Tristan and Connie both quite unlikable from the start, and this barely changed throughout the play. They egged each other on to be horrible to one another, and so the one thing I will say was how amazing their argument and subsequent love making was. It was passionate and firey and sudden, and I really do commend Prebble’s writing for doing such a great job with it. The ending was also very tragic, and I loved the last scene as they walk out together, forever changed by the drug trial.
Spoiler
(Of course, Tristan suffering the most)And lastly, A Very Expensive Poison was definitely my favourite. I was already familiar with the Litvinenko poisoning case, and even with knowing who the culprits were and how it would end, I found it extremely entertaining. In part this was certainly down to the cast list that prefaced the beginning of the play - seeing that Reece Sheersmith was cast as Putin was so great to visualise throughout all of his parts that made it so much more enjoyable than if it were someone I was unfamiliar with. The subtle comedy and the switches into song were very funny, and then the moments of desperation and sorrow were deeply sad. Prebble manages to excellently shift between the two in this play, and I was captivated throughout my read for all that was to come next for the reveals. Again, this is one I would love to see on stage (better yet, see if a copy of the original performance was recorded to watch), because it had some of the best writing out of the whole collection and with great actors, a real performance of it would be incredible.
I’m so glad I picked this up as an introduction to reading plays, and while some had their shortcomings for me, they were all still extremely excellent.
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