Recap of DFL: Mardi Gras
Short Recap (Full Recap below with pictures)
Noah and Lydia have been out partying with the gang to celebrate Mardi Gras, but when Noah’s girlfriend Chloe does something to annoy her, Lydia takes herself off and the pair find themselves alone.
After years of secrets and emotions bubbling underneath the surface, it all comes out. During an epic fight, we learn that Lydia broke up with Noah all those years ago because she found an engagement ring. But then Noah reveals that it had just been given to him by his mum after he’d told his parents he was planning to go travelling with her.
The scene ends with the pair saying cruel words to one another. Noah runs out, furious. Lydia is sure he’ll come back. But he doesn’t.
“I’ve spent so much time beating myself up, thinking what could I possibly have done to make you just drop me like that? Until right now, I still thought it was my fault. Years. If you’d just talked to me, we could’ve had years.”
10 point recap with pictures:
01
The Musician starts a rousing rendition of ‘The Ballad of DFL’, complete with audience interaction, drums, and Mardi Gras rhythms.
At the end, Lydia enters, alone. She’s clearly agitated, and is berating herself, asking herself “What do you want?”
02
Noah arrives, and asks Lydia who she’s talking to and why she left the group. She’s furious that he doesn’t realise why she needed to get away from Chloe, and reveals that she’s noticed the pair of them doing their thing where they both say “It’s not a thing” at the same time.
03
Lydia admits that she’s jealous of Chloe, telling Noah that he looks hotter now he’s this relationship. He tries to tell the audience that he’s not making more of an effort because he’s trying to impress Lydia, but it’s not convincing. He tells Lydia that meeting alone “ was a bad idea”.
04
Lydia reels off a list of reasons why Noah is annoying, but nonetheless admits to the audience that she’s still in love with him. He asks the real reason why she came down from London last year and lets her know how painful this has all been. Lydia tries to insult them by calling Noah and Chole’s life “simple” and accuses him of playing games.
05
Then they start dredging up frustrations from the past. He says he’s never been able to rely on her ever since she bailed on a Thames river tour with his sister. She points out his overdramatic tendencies, reminding him about the time he stormed out of their first New Year’s Eve together over a card game and missed their first NYE kiss.
06
Once again, they begin trading insults about whose town it is and who deserves to live here. She flags the carelessness of his language when he says “You’re in the wrong place”, comparing his rhetoric to Trump and reminding him that her grandmother was part of the Windrush generation. People move around for many reasons and they all want the same thing: “Security. Safety. Permanence.” Finally, she admits that she’s no longer in Hastings because of him, but because she wants to be.
07
Then Noah lets it rip, telling Lydia that she’s here because “you can’t face your mum”, and accusing her of running away from her feelings. This cuts her deep, and he immediately realises he’s gone too far. He attempts to hug her, but she pushes him away.
08
Lydia turns the tables on Noah, accusing him of being a DFL (he was born in Lewisham), ignoring his heritage, and refusing to ever try anything new because he’s deeply insecure. She says that “You have complete imposter syndrome” and, in reference to his adoptive parents and his insecurity, asks “What’re they gonna do, send you back? I think the refund policy has expired.”
09
Noah comes right back with a jibe comparing Lydia to her dad. She says he’s “terrified”. He says she’s a “weapon of chaotic mass destruction” and a “volatile bitch”. Then, just as Noah says he’s done and that they’re both exhausted, she tells him she “found the ring” and that’s why she broke up with him.
10
Flabbergasted, he explains that he wasn’t going to propose but that it was just a gift from his mum, and he was intending to come travelling with her. They’re both dumbfounded, unable to comprehend all of this new information.
She tries to say that she loves him, but instead reveals that she left him because, if he’d asked, she would have said yes.
Noah walks out, devastated. Lydia tells the audience she’s sure he’ll come back. But he doesn’t.
