Susan Granger’s review of “Breathless” (59E59 – Off-Broadway)
My mother often said, “Your home is living space, not storage space.” So I’m not quite sure what she’s make of Laura Horton’s one-woman show “Breathless.”
Engaging actress Madeleine MacMahon embodies Sophie, an aspiring writer in her late ‘30s who is wildly, madly, totally besotted by clothes. She indulges her passion for designer fashion at sample sales, wardrobe clearances and charity thrift shops.
Bottom line: Sophie is a hoarder….or, as she puts it, “It makes me feel safe but it also suffocates me.”
Sophie’s angst is heightened by her need to hide this obsession from Jo, a woman to whom she’s romantically attracted after years of unsuccessful connections with men. Problem is: Jo is, essentially, a minimalist.
“There’s all the time in the world to see my place,” Sophie tells Jo, but – how long can she keep up this façade? Is it worth sacrificing the potential relationship?
Sophie’s sensitive, self-exploratory, comic monologue is funny, honest and heartfelt.
Directed by Stephanie Kempson with technical support from Natasha Whitley, Dan Heesemas, Holly Harbottle and Ellie Showering, it’s imported from the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.
Playwright Laura Horton is Plymouth Laureate of Words, 2021-22, the first playwright and woman in that position…and obviously she’s devoted much time to researching the mental illness known as hoarding addiction.
According to Psychology Today, “Hoarding disorder can create social, professional, and functional problems that affect not only the individual but also the people around them.” And the Mayo Clinic website adds, “People with hoarding disorder may not see it as a problem, so getting them to take part in treatment can be challenging.”
Running 1 hour, 15 minutes with no intermission, “Breathless” is presented by Theatre Royal Plymouth as part of the Brits Off-Broadway Festival at the 59E59 Theatre on the Upper East Side through May 7, 2023.