THEATRE REVIEW: Mouthpiece

A world premiere at the Traverse Theatre tells of when the two sides of Edinburgh collide on the cliffs of Salisbury Crags. It may not be so obvious to the millions of people who travel to Edinburgh every year in search of a city full of rich tourism and culture that it is a city with two distinct sides to it. These sides are not geographically separated, but weave into one another all across the capital, and yet this changes nothing to the fact that they do exist. Written by award winning writer Kieran Hurley and laced with some fantastic humour, Mouthpiece has this idea at the centre of its narrative, and uses it to discuss if poverty porn should be something that Edinburgh as a city so split in terms of class, should be wary of.

Libby is a once semi-successful playwright, now living with her mother and wasting her days strolling through the New Town of Edinburgh frustrated at how life has ended up. Almost ready to admit defeat, she is shown a glimmer of hope in Declan. A young man from an entirely different Edinburgh to hers, Declan divides his time by looking after his younger sister, and fulfilling his passion of drawing atop the peaceful cliffs of Salisbury Crags. Libby spots a young talented artist from a deprived background waiting for help to fulfil his potential, and the pair from the two different Edinburgh(s) begin an unlikely friendship. But Libby slowly begins to see the possibility for a resurgence of her own talent by using Declan’s struggles in life to create something that could change things for the better. But the better for who?

Hurley has not been afraid to shine a harsh light on the state of things today in terms of the way we approach poverty and those in need among us. His writing is unassuming and effective in telling a story of class and exploitation for art in the culture full city with two sides. We are explained the basic storytelling rules by Libby, the constructs of having a beginning, a middle and an end in order to tell a story. But as Declan explains, stories like his do not just stop at the end of a play in the Traverse theatre, and the powerful and gritty writing by Hurley helps to ingrain this feeling within the audience. Along with director Orla O’Loughlin making simplicity in all else work to the play’s advantage so that the audience engage with the words being spoken more than anything else that happens on stage.

A welcomed addition is the well timed and surprising humour within the play that provides a perfect amount of punchiness and speedy back and forth between the two characters that are played outstandingly by Lorn Macdonald and Neve McIntosh. Both can be seen to put their all into these trying roles and then some as they swing from emotion to emotion in every scene without a break to compose. Mouthpiece has gone for simplicity in staging, lighting effects and music in order to let the script take centre stage and the actors shine through it. It will move and shock those from Edinburgh and beyond as the points it raises should be heard by all, no matter the side of the city.