THEATRE REVIEW: Mouthpiece ★★★★

Mouthpiece
Soho Theatre, London
Tuesday 2nd April - Saturday 4th May 2019

Commissioned originally by Traverse Theatre in Edinburgh, Mouthpiece tells the story of Libby, a mid-40s writer who at the start of the production is ready to end her life and jump of Salisbury Crags, a cliffedge in Edinburgh, until only meer seconds before is saved by Declan,  a seventeen year old who lives in an estate and visits the Crags regularly to get away from his Step Father and 5 year old sister, and who loves to draw. His latest piece of work, entitled Mouthpiece, catches Libby’s eye as well as his personal story, and it’s here were Mouthpiece starts to evolve into an unlikely relationship and beautiful story between the two, and the audience, who are constantly felt involved right up until the final moments.

Coming into this production fairly uncertain of what I was heading in for, I was pleasantly surprised by just how compelled I was to the action on stage with such a minimalistic set, designed by Kai Fischer, who also does beautiful work with the lighting in this show was is simplistic but becomes very effective in capturing the focus on stage between our two lead characters, played by Neve Mcintosh (Libby) and Lorn Macdonald, who bring humour and a sense sharpness to Kieran Hurleys sensitive and touching script between two unlikely friends who become fascinated with each other and their respective artforms.

Macintosh and Macdonald’s chemistry on stage is staggering and totally believable, even at moments which personally I found took the characters into some unnecessary action. The fact that the production solely relies on these two actors carrying the script along, the scenes are so precise and condensed that they fill the stage with their presence in such a manner that you completely forget about the surrounding areas into which they’re in. Hurley’s script also hightens in making the audience aware of what they are watching with the inclusive of breaking the fourth wall between the two characters, something that keeps us in check of where we are, and where we are heading, within the story.

Overall, Mouthpiece is an effective and beautiful piece of theatre which shows the unlikeliness of a friendship and what they must sacrifice for their artwork, which pushes Mcintosh and Macdonald who excel with Hurley’s powerful tale.