Review: ADELAIDE FESTIVAL 2020: MOUTHPIECE at Odeon Theatre

Reviewed by Barry Lenny, Saturday 7th March 2020.

Glaswegian playwright, Kieran Hurley, brings together two characters from opposite socio-economic parts of Edinburgh in his award-winning play, Mouthpiece, the Traverse Theatre Company production playing at this year's Adelaide Festival. Directed by Orla O'Loughlin, it features Shauna Macdonald, as Libby, and Angus Taylor, as Declan.

Libby, from New Town which, in spite of the name, was built between the mid 18th and mid 19th centuries, is middle-class and forty-one, was earlier moderately successful as a playwright, but now suffering from two decades of writer's block. At the end of her tether, she has decided to end it all by leaping from the Salisbury Crags, whose cliff face overlooks the city. Declan is seventeen, from a housing estate, has been expelled from college for continual absenteeism, and is living a hand to mouth existence on the wrong side of town. His escape from his life is through his art. He prevents Libby from escaping permanently from hers, and an unlikely friendship begins.

In Brechtian Epic Theatre style, Libby uses a microphone on her desk to explain, at various points, the structure of the play and directions that it will take, both actors regularly break the fourth wall and directly address the audience, signs are displayed on the rear wall at scene changes, and there is an unconventional ending in which the playwright and a character are in conflict, reminding us that this is a play and not reality.

As the play progresses, Declan tells Libby of his home, his family, his life, and philosophy. She records their sessions and writes his story into a play, inspired by all that her unexpected muse tells her. His life goes on, but a play needs a conclusion, and so she writes a suitable ending, deviating from his story. He is furious and that leads to a separation. She goes on to have the play successfully presented at the Traverse Theatre. Declan attends, and stands up to confront her during the post-performance Q&A session.

There are numerous questions of ethics posed in the work but, central to it, are the questions of who owns Declan's story, and does Libby have the right to edit and rewrite it to suit theatrical conventions? Just as Declan challenges Libby, so the playwright, Kieran Hurley, challenges the audience to consider all of the issues raised in this play.

The staging is minimalist, with Libby's desk, also serving as a café table, off the front of the stage in front of a simple picture frame proscenium arch. Behind the arch are several rising levels, everything painted black, save for a small photograph of a young girl. A few props are added and removed, as required, by the two performers. The only costume change is made by Libby, when she goes to attend the premiere of her play, Mouthpiece, the title taken from one of Declan's drawings.

Shauna Macdonald and Angus Taylor are sensational, as Libby and Declan, giving us two powerful, believable, and complex characters. The rapport between these two actors is very strong, leading to a wide range of emotional interactions in their characters' many encounters. There is a good range of light and shade, laughs and tears, and plenty of pace, under Orla O'Loughlin's insightful direction.

The one drawback was the difficulty in understanding Taylor's very broad Scottish accent, adopted as the working-class Declan, his lines also being peppered with expletives, and incorporating peculiarly Scottish terms, such as "wee yin" (little one), all of which left much of the audience in the dark at times.

This piece is designed to make the audience members think about the issues, and it achieves that end, judging by conversations overheard as people left the theatre. This is a performance that will stay with you, long after the event. It, of course, received a standing ovation.

Photography, Lara Cappelli

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