Mouthpiece is a 2015 Canadian feminist play by Norah Sadava and Amy Nostbakken of Quote Unquote Collective.
Development Nostbakken and Sadava began working on the play in 2013. The play received dramaturgy from Orian Michaeli and features music composed by Nostbakken.
The script was later published by Coach House Books in Canada with an introduction from Michele Landsberg. It has also been published by Oberon Press in the UK and Mitos Boyut in Turkey. It has been translated into Spanish, French, Romanian, Albanian and Turkish.
Plot Mouthpiece is a two-person play in which both actors play the same character, Cassandra. Cassandra is a writer who finds out her mother has just died and must deal with preparations for the funeral. She must write the eulogy but finds she has lost the ability to speak. The play takes place in a span of twenty-four hours and is set in present-day Toronto.
Performance history Mouthpiece premiered in 2015 at The Theatre Centre in Toronto starring Sadava and Nostbakken and directed by Nostbakken. In 2016, the production was staged by Nightwood Theatre as part of a double bill. In 2017, Jodie Foster brought Quote Unquote to Los Angeles to performa a two show run of Mouthpiece. Foster first saw the play in Toronto. Also in 2017, they performed the play at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival. In 2018, 2b Theatre brought Quote Unquote Collective and Mouthpiece to Nova Scotia. It was performed at Alderney Landing in Dartmouth. Sadava said that this performance would be the last time she and Nostbakken would perform the play in Canada.
Awards +YearAwardCategoryResultNotesRef.2015Dora Mavor Moore Awards - Independent TheatreOutstanding Performance by an EnsembleOutstanding Sound Design/Compositionfor composer Amy Nostbakken and sound designer James BuntonOutstanding ProductionOutstanding New PlayOutstanding Directionfor Amy NostbakkenOutstanding Lighting Designfor lighting designer Andre Du Toit2016Capital Critics Circle Award (Ottawa)Best Professional ProductionMy Entertainment AwardsOutstanding ProductionOutstanding ActressOutstanding Lighting & Sound composition & Designfor Andre Du Toit, Amy Nostbakken and James Bunton2017Toronto Theatre Critics AwardsBest New Canadian PlayDora Mavor Moore Awards - GeneralOutstanding ProductionOutstanding Performance - EnsembleOutstanding Sound Design/Compositionfor composer Amy Nostbakken and sound designer James BuntonCarol Tambor Best of Edinburgh Awardn/aSummerhall Jawbone Award (Edinburgh Fringe)n/aThe Stage AwardsPerformance at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival2019Merritt AwardsOutstanding Presentation
Adaptation
In 2018, Mouthpiece was adapted into a film starring Sadava and Nostbakken and directed by Patricia Rozema. In 2025 the Spanish translation and adaptation was staged in Mexico City at Foro Lucerna and Sala Xavier Villaurrutia, produced by El Ingenio Del Caldero.
References