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Culture Theatre

Review: Mouthpiece

MOUTHPIECE by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava (Quote Unquote Collective/Why Not Theatre/Riser Project). At the Theatre Centre (1115 Queen West). Runs to May 3. $18-$20, Apr 26 pwyc. 416-538-0988, theatrecentre.org. See Continuing. Rating: NNN

Mouthpiece explores the socialization of women in Western culture, a familiar topic here given an often intriguing production using song, movement and some clever staging.

Created and performed by Amy Nostbakken and Norah Sadava, the hour-long piece follows the actions of Cassandra the day after the death of her mother, Elaine. It also reveals what she’s thinking – often conflicting thoughts voiced sometimes in unison, sometimes as a dialogue between the two performers.

Elaine was a stylish, classy woman, concerned about her appearance and doing the right thing, though her daughter also sees her as a doormat used by men. She wouldn’t eat a French fry (at least Cassandra never saw her doing so) and loved anything to do with weddings.

Cassandra, a writer who’s expected to deliver the eulogy and choose her own outfit, the casket and the flowers for the funeral, initially distances herself from her mother’s actions but discovers how much alike they are. Cassandra started learning, she realizes, in the womb, the umbilical cord a conduit for the proper behaviour of a female child.

Sadava and Nostbakken, whose props are a microphone and a bathtub that’s put to many uses, work in skilful physical and a cappella vocal harmony, their choral work (Nostbakken wrote all the music) moving and expressive even when it’s simply wordless vocalizing. The music, which ranges from hymns to folk music and a touch of Janis Joplin rock, is a highlight of the show.

The writers are also concerned with the stereotyping male gaze Cassandra’s anger starts to appear as she demands to be seen for herself, and she struggles to find her own voice and breath, something her mother also sought, she comes to see.

By the play’s end, after Cassandra has offered several possible versions of Elaine’s eulogy, the musical voices we’ve heard earlier flood back into the theatre as accompaniment to Cassandra’s learning to breathe and express herself. It’s a fitting background for the newly reborn daughter finally aware of both her heritage and her future.

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