REVIEW: SUGAR by Mabel Thomas at Old Red Lion Theatre 5 – 8 September 2023

‘ambiguous territory in this sugar baby play’ ★★★

After a successful run at the Edinburgh Fringe, SUGAR makes its London debut at Old Red Lion Theatre. This pacey one-girl show, written and performed by Mabel Thomas is a sassy and confident performance that negotiates growing up female in contemporary America where winning is all and the dollar is king.

Our storyteller, Mae, starts white knuckled at the wheel of a car, preparing to run someone over. Who is her victim and what brings her to the point of attempted murder? As she takes us through her life, through a series of ages and vignettes, we start to understand why.

Mae is not a particularly likeable child or teenager. Entitled, precocious, brattish in her persona, she measures her worth through materiality. Most of her friends are richer and she is ingenious at finding ways to make cash. Boys and men get a bad rap and should be avoided while everyone is seen as a potential customer.

When she kisses a girl and likes it, the play takes a more interesting turn and when Mae discovers there’s plenty of money to be made as a sugar baby, providing companionship to older men, we find ourselves in morally ambiguous territory. Ambiguous is a word that is emphasised at the beginning and takes on more meaning as we move through the play.

Once our protagonist and narrator find herself embroiled in this much darker world, where flesh and human warmth are exchanged for cash, the self-satisfaction she has experienced throughout her short life is upended. Who exactly is playing whom? Who is using whom? Who is manipulating whom?

SUGAR by Mabel Thomas at Old Red Lion Theatre 5 – 8 September 2023

Box Office: https://www.oldredliontheatre.co.uk/sugar.html

Written/Performed by Mabel Thomas

Directed by Sandra Oian

Dramaturgy by Aisha Josiah

Reviewed by Nilgin Yusuf