The Sugar Syndrome

by Lucy Prebble

Brilliant new play about dating through the internet

I like the internet. I like that way of talking to people. It's honest. It's a place where people are free to say anything they like. And most of what they say is about sex.

Dani's on a mission. She's just seventeen, hates her parents, skives college and prefers life in the chatrooms on-line. What she's looking for is someone who is honest and direct. Instead she finds a man twice her age, who thinks she is eleven and a boy.

Published to tie-in with premiere at the Royal Court Theatre Upstairs in October 2003.

Genres: Plays, Theatre

96 pages, Paperback

First published October 16, 2003

About the author

Lucy Prebble is a British playwright. She is the author of the plays The Sugar Syndrome, The Effect and ENRON, and adaptation writer of the television series Secret Diary of a Call Girl.

Reviews

[Doug]

3.5, rounded up.

I remember reading this back when it first came out and being impressed, especially for a debut play. Since then, of course, Prebble has become one of the pre-eminent UK playwrights, and although I wasn't crazy about Enron, I liked her The Effect a lot. Coming back to this, it has sadly become dated a bit (the Internet technology gives it away as a remnant of another age), but I think it does really well in delineating four very distinct characters, and the dialogue rings true and naturalistic. It doesn't come to much of a conclusion, but I think that is entirely appropriate.

[s.]

the characters fell a bit flat for me, but i still enjoyed it. an interesting exploration of addiction, intimacy, and connection.

➵ 3 stars

[Carol Arap]

oh! okay! uhm, i’m good thanks

[Jonathan Daley]

An interesting look at the internet and human perversion. I felt like some of the characters were a bit thinly drawn and I wanted to know more about them and about what motivated them. The exploration of the internet is obviously dated now but it’s still have some interesting things to say about how younger people use the internet. I would be interested to see it staged in today’s world and how you would update it.

[Nicole]

I never never not liked a Lucy Prebble play, but this one isn’t one of my favourites of hers (fair as it’s her first). It’s got a few too many things going on.

[Annie Yotova]

World Premiere run: Royal Court Jerwood Theatre Upstairs, London, UK, 16 October - 15 November 2003
Length: Full Length Play. 2 Acts. Approximate time: about 2 hours 15 minutes, including interval; 74 pages

Dani is 17 and as many young people at the beginning of the century, she is looking for friendship (and more) in chatrooms online. And there she meets two men: 22-years old Lewis and the slightly older Tim. She decides to meet both of them and things start getting complicated - Lewis cannot believe that she is really a girl (and they end up having sex more than ones) while Tim is shocked to discover that she is a girl and 17 at that - he believed that he had been chatting with an 11 years old boy.

Once the shock is over, Dani remains friends with both of them - mainly just having sex with Lewis (while he seems to think it is more serious) while developing a real friendship with Tim. And that second relationship is what drives the play - because Dani opens up about her own problems to this damaged man who is trying to be good. And while she is trying to fix both her companions (sex for one of them, a friendly ear for the other) and openly discuss them with the other one, her own family collapsed around her - or ends her collapse anyway. The 4th character in Dani's circle is her mother Jan who finally realizes that her husband has an affair - or better to say that she finally allows herself to admit it.

And that's where the first act closes. It seems pretty obvious who is supposed to be the bad guy. Except that life is never that easy - and when Dani finally needs help, she gets it from the villain Tim. And Lewis manages to slide into the role of the villain by what amounts to stalking. Until the very end when Dani decides to help Tim and discovers that nothing is what it looks like.

It is a disturbing play - it is designed to be. Good and evil are not absolutes and everyone can have redeeming qualities - even when they still remain human garbage. The fact that by the end of the play both of the men look equally villainous is unexpected but not very surprising. And somewhere in that crazy circle, a mother and a daughter maybe finally find a way to communicate.

This was the first play Prebble wrote and it managed to win quite a lot of awards during its first run: The Critics' Circle Award (2004), George Devine Award for Most Promising Playwright (2004) and TMA Award for Best New Play (2004) and lost the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize to Sarah Ruhl. And the play deserves its accolades - it is nuanced and funny and even 17 years later, still relevant (except for the chatrooms of course).

PS: The title comes from a WWII practice as explained by Jan: during the London raids, people were issued ratio tokens and they could either collect a lot of them and buy meat or use a token at a time to buy sugar and sweets. As noone knew if they will be alive after the next raid, people went for the instant gratification. All of the subplots in the play are all about instant gratification - so the title fits perfectly.

[Sophie Bloor]

I really enjoyed this play; compelling and instantly readable. The narrative was a curious exploration of good and evil, illness and health, all covered with Prebble’s recognisable garishness. Dani’s eating disorder was brutally reflected and I enjoyed that for the sake of honesty. What I did find interesting too was how my sympathy swung towards Tim and I actually questioned the sanity of Lewis over a convicted peadophile (Tim). I did enjoy the play, my heart broke in the binge scene but I’m just not sure I could give it 5 stars because of the message empathising with a child molester may unintentionally convey. Morality stops me from liking Tim, it’s only pity I feel, for both Dani and him.

I would, however, argue that her characters are fairly well formed and I liked the symbolism with the cat too, even if it did pass me by slightly. Not sure this was significant enough to end the play on though, for me.
Each character had a lot going on, Dani sometimes became too much of an unapologetic b*tch and equally I wasn’t sure about the comparison of an eating disorder with peadophilia in regards of illnesses.

All in all, I love Prebble’s tone and intend to read more of her work.

[Emilia Robson]

I genuinely loved this play to bits. That’s definitely partly down to bits of it hitting home but I just adore the way Lucy Prebble writes and this play was FASCINATINGLY done. The whole way through I was intensely questioning my own beliefs and views on the characters and their behaviours (particularly at the end of the play and in scenes with Tim), in a way alongside the character of Dani who was essentially doing the same throughout. The characters were simple but gorgeously defined and I felt entirely drawn in; I wholeheartedly wanted to just keep on reading at the end of every scene. The narrative is incredibly well done, so unique and extremely strange and out of the ordinary. I will always adore Lucy Prebble’s work, and this is another one of her works of art.

[Oliver]

This was a really interesting play, certainly not like anything I've read before. I felt that just having a few characters helped this to harbour a far more intense storyline than I was expecting. It's also very interesting to envision the story as it takes place, given it was clearly set in the late 90's/early 2000's just from the use of Internet chat rooms alone.

I would say content warning for EDs, obviously the other content warnings are made clear in the blurb. I liked how this ended without really ending, and that Prebble didn't give a clear next step for each of the characters.

5 stars overall. Gripping and very unusual.

[Tatiana Szapary]

Absolutely wild to me that this was her first play. She had such a creative mind.

I feel like there are parts of the play where the dialogue seems to be that of a green writer / new writer. But bloody heck ! Great first effort.

I struggled to empathise with Dani, I thought she was quite a horrible person and didn’t have a moral backbone. Come to think of it none of the characters were nice people. But it was such an interesting read.

[Esmé]

In my play era. Thank you Ruby!!!!

[Quenton Cassidy]

Painful character study of two broken self loathing people that is a little under realized narratively.

[Reya Muller]

LP has such a strong voice, there's so much richness and humour here, and her clear fascination with power and where it manifests in relationships.

[Kayden Merritt]

…ok?

[Timur Markowitz]

Prebble’s writing makes me so sad. I can’t get enough of it.

[Jesslynn Hurtado]

3 1/2

wow.
what did i just read. do i need to watch this live i wonder?

[soph ☕️]

incredible 🥹

[aLirEza nEjaTi]

FUCKING HORRIFYING

[Ophelia Vert]

Lucy Prebble's first professional play, written with her signature clarity. Ever since I heard her speaking to Simon Stephens on the Royal Court Playwright's Podcast about the relationship that women have to food being akin to that that men have to sex, I have been dying to read this. You can definitely see how she goes on to write other fascinating plays, such as Enron, or The Effect, and while this feels more like a work in progress than a complete piece, it was still moving, uncomfortable, insightful and funny.

[Roseanna]

ooh. i thought it was very interesting and enjoyed thoroughly

[Casey Browne]

MAJOR tw for paedophilia, rape, eating disorders, purging, grooming
It is a disturbing play - it is designed to be. Good and evil are not absolutes, and everyone can have redeeming qualities - even when they remain human garbage. By the end of the play, both men look equally villainous and unexpected but not very surprising. And somewhere in that crazy circle, a mother and a daughter may finally find a way to communicate. I enjoyed this play; compelling and instantly readable. The narrative was a curious exploration of good and evil, illness and health, all covered with Prebble’s recognisable garishness. Dani’s eating disorder was brutally reflected, and I enjoyed that for the sake of honesty. I found it interesting that my sympathy swung towards Tim, and I questioned Lewis's sanity over a convicted paedophile (Tim).
However, I would argue that her characters are fairly well-formed, and each character has a lot going on. Dani sometimes became too much of an unapologetic b*tch, and equally, I wasn’t sure about comparing an eating disorder with paedophilia regarding illnesses.

[H]

Can’t imagine what this was like to watch live. I’m really curious about the staging. Prebble is a gem.

MAJOR tw for pedophilia, rape, eating disorders, purging, grooming

2024: I kind of forgot how I felt about this almost 4 years ago, but I really enjoyed it. It’s such a solid play especially for a debut.

[Loni]

Touching. About understanding each other.

[Emilie]

sharp play about loneliness in life but characters are all a bit flakey. still, quite a gem.

[Phoebe]

picture my face when i have to read this for drama a level

[Thaíssa]

Interesting.