Mouthpiece

          I'm in two minds about Soho Theatre. Its a nice theatre space, thought the foyer is extremely small and the bar gets very busy. This makes the time waiting to be let into the theatre itself rather annoying/awkward. Soho Theatre has three performance spaces; Soho Theatre, Soho Upstairs and Soho Downstairs. By having these three spaces, it means multiple shows are able to start at similar times, which only adds to the overcrowded and cramped conditions of the waiting areas. Staff are always lovely, and do the best they can in the conditions in which they have to work. As I said, the theatre itself is lovely. The seats in the main theatre space are a little close to one another, though overall its a good environment to watch theatre. With roughly 150 seats the theatre has a wonderful intimate feel, and the seats have a good enough rake that views of the stage aren't impaired. This means shows like Mouthpiece can really grab you by the scruff on the neck and shake you about.

          The show started slightly slow and didn't grab my interest from the start. However, by the end I was hooked. I was committed to the story, and was interested to see where it led. The performances by Lorn Macdonald and Neve McIntosh were brilliant, and I was convinced they were real people. With histories, lives, troubles, dreams and aspirations. The set, or lack there of, didn't distract from but only enhanced the bleakness of the story. This was an extremely clever choice by the designer Kai Fischer and director Orla O'Loughlin. The play has been exceptionally written by the Scottish playwright Kieran Hurley, probably most known for his award winning play Beats (which was also performed in the Soho theatre back in 2013).

          The show was hard hitting and emotional. Not something I always enjoy but I was so in the mood for it on this occasion. A lot of the time I just want something light and fluffy, but this time around I was in for something that just punched me in the stomach. This didn't disappoint. Mouthpiece is one of the most honest and true pieces of theatre I've seen in a very long time. It brings up important messages of lack of support there is for those considered destitute of in the lowest section of society. It shows how manipulative society and people can be. But it also, in some small way, gives hope that with just a little support people can flourish and prosper. Now the show rips this to shreds, but the original message in no way gets lost.

          Kieran Hurley has gained a new fan. I'm very much looking forward to his future projects, including a new film based on his play BEATS which is to be released later this year. Interestingly the film stars the actor from this show, Lorn Macdonald.

For more information and to buy tickets, click here.

Come From Away

          When I explained to people that I was going to be seeing a musical based on events that occurred on September 11th 2001, I had some very confused looks. I fully understand where these looks were coming from. Its not about the actual terrorists attacks in new York City or Washington, but instead the events that unfolded in the town of Gander in Newfoundland Canada. Gander is a smallish town with a population of around 11,500. On September 11th, after the terrorist attacks and the closure of US airspace, 38 plans carrying almost 7,000 passengers were diverted to its airport as part of Operation Yellow Ribbon. Why Gander, well it has a large international airport that was used in the past for planes making transatlantic flights when they needed to refuel. Most planes don't need to do this anymore, so the airport was no longer the hive of activity it once used to be.

          This is a show full of comedy but also at times is completely heart wrenching. The story, understandably, follows a very linier pattern, with moments of narration be multiple characters, to explain what's happening and fill in some gaps. These moments push the story along nicely. There are however moments I found it very hard to understand exactly what characters were saying. Mind you in the first song of the show, 'Welcome To The Rock', one of the first lines is:

Welcome to the rock if you come from away

You probably understand about a half of what we say

          I should have guessed I might have an issue understanding some things. Not that this affected me enjoying the show however. I just took it as part of the show.

          When looking up information about the show, I mistakenly got the impression the show was focused on the character of Beverley Bass. She was one of the pilots of a diverted aircraft that landed at Gander. Coincidentally she was also the first female Captain for American Airlines. Rachel Tucker expertly performs the role, though it would be unfair to the rest of the cast to call her the lead. By no means do I wish this to undermine her performance as she was engaging and full of energy, also giving the sensitive nature of the subject the respect it needs. Her role was a sort of anchor for the show, every now and again showing what she was up to in a way to place the show at a specific time or to gage what was happening.

          There was in fact no main character whatsoever. All the characters had equal representation within the musical score as well as script. In fact that's one of my main take aways from the show. Its very much an ensemble production, something almost unusual on the stage at the moment. How nice it was to see such a thing. There also wasn't a bad, or less than adequate, performer in the entire cast. Again, something unusual though not unwelcome. In fact I cant really criticize any cast member at all. All performed there roles perfectly and with such enthusiasm it was infectious. I would like though to give a special mention to Jenna Boyd, who plays Beulah Davis. She was a complete breath of fresh air, bringing the most laughs and continually making me smile. I connected with her. I will be watching out for her in the future.

          Anything based on the events of the 9/11 attacks is bound to me moving and emotional. The story shows the best of human kindness and of all things that are good with humanity. There were a couple of moments I was moved to tears. Not at all during tragic or sad moments, but at times of true kindness. One was when people were trying to communicate with a couple who spoke no English and so were very scared of the situation as they had no idea what was going on. The person started communicating by pointing to lines from the Bible. If you know a line from the Bible, you can find it no matter what language the Bible happens to be in as it will always be in the same place. This completely moved me and really touched my heart.

          The show is just sublime. A fantastic piece of theatre that I'm sure will go down in theatre history. It turns one of the most shocking moments of recent history into one of the most uplifting and empowering stories of human kindness and our resilience in the face of adversity. I would happily go see this show over and over again, and I couldn't recommend it more.

          The show is currently showing on Broadway in New York City and the West End in London. It is also currently touring the USA and is currently playing in Toronto Canada until September 29th 2019. It will also be opening in Melbourne Australia in July 2019.

For information on the Broadway production and US tour, click here

For information on the London production, click here

For information on the Canadian production (booked to run until Sept 2019), click here

For information on the Australian production, click here