"The idea that he's this girl Lucy's imaginary friend - so everything that comes out of his mind is essentially coming out of her mind and her experience - some of the things that happen in the play are kind of ridiculous when you put it in that context," said Lucas Hoiland, the actor cast in the title role.

The play may not be considered suitable for all sensibilities, said director Jesse Young, as it deals with explicit themes through the worldview of a child.

"I don't think it's really a play about children," he said, adding that adult actors play the roles of children. "I think it's a play about loneliness and a need for connection."

The play revolves around the relationship of Lucy (played by Sarah Campen) and Mr. Marmalade one evening in New Jersey when left in the care of a preoccupied babysitter.

"The babysitter brings over her boyfriend, and the boyfriend brings his younger brother, Larry, and they form a real friendship, which makes Mr. Marmalade very jealous," Young said.

Once a real bond begins to develop with Larry (played by Josh Galbraith), that's when things begin to get hectic and out of control.

"It has a lot of humor in it, and it has a lot of drama in it, too," Hoiland said. "It's kind of mixed up that way. You're laughing hysterically in one moment, and in the next you're in shock and horror. It keeps you on your feet."

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Lucy (Sarah Campen) talks with Bradley (Ben Brown), the personal assistant to her imaginary friend Mr. Marmalade. Bradley often receives the brunt of Marmalade's violent tendencies.

"The whole imaginary device is an interesting way to tell a story that many people have told just about other human beings," he said. "At the end of the day, what you're looking at is human wants and desires I guess - the need for companionship."

The play, written Noah Haidle, is chock-full of richly developed characters, Young said. And the playwright uses Lucy's imagination to highlight some consistent realities of interrelationships, he said.

"The characters have an incredible ability to be compassionate and cruel back to back. They sort of flip back and forth," he said. "I find that the playwright captures that really well - the cruelty and the kindness of the human condition."

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Lucy (Sarah Campen) knocks over a bowl of popcorn held by her babysitter (Patty Kalbrener) in an early scene in "Mr. Marmalade." Later in the play, the babysitter's boyfriend comes over, bringing his kid brother, Larry.

"In the course of the play, she finds a real friend, not just an imaginary friend, and that's a great story," he said.

The three other actors rounding out the cast are Shadow Hotch, who plays Sookie, Lucy's mother; Patty Kalbrener who plays Emily, the babysitter; and Adam Ward, who plays George, the babysitter's boyfriend.

People attending the play should be open-minded about the content of the show, Brown said.

Michael Penn / Juneau Empire   Lucy (Campen) confronts Mr. Marmalade, (Lucas Hoiland), right. Marmalade becomes jealous once Lucy befriends Larry.

"Mr. Marmalade" will be the final production under the watch of Young, who also is the director of the Second Stage at Perseverance Theatre. Young will be moving back to Portland, Ore., this month.

"I think Jesse deserves a lot of credit for expanding and reinvigorating the second stage," Brown said. "It's difficult to do when so much effort is put into the main stage."