Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
Tickets and more information: https://sohotheatre.com/shows/mouthpiece/
Booking until: 4th May 2019
Production Photos by: Roberto Riccuiti
Run time: 1hr 30 mins 

Set in Edinburgh, Mouthpiece follows Declan and Libby who meet in the middle of the night after a moment between entwines their lives together. Declan is a young artist who is on the brink of falling out with his family and Libby is a writer who hasn’t written something new in ages. After being intrigued by his story, Libby decides to write a play about Declan and his background. But at what cost?

The main theme in the play is of responsibility. There’s the artistic responsibility that comes with Libby using Declan’s story as a means to get her writing career back up and running. There’s the responsibility she has with Declan leaning on her for emotional support, which writer Kieran Hurley does well in terms of power dynamics. What Hurley does so well is his writing is so unapologetic. It’s brash and honest, even with a few c bombs dropped every now and then, but it takes a look at how classism and poverty exist in modern day Scotland and how outsiders look into that.

The play is performed as a two hander by Neve McIntosh as Libby who is very, very good in this. But she is outshined by Lorn Macdonald who gives an incredibly strong, emotionally charged performance as Declan. Honestly, not only is Mouthpiece a nuanced and very strong piece of writing, go see it for his fantastic performance. It’s as if a star is born.

Until next time,