When Mandi explained this I nodded, as I felt I’d reached that point, too. I couldn’t even find half of the clothes I’d bought, so how could I get pleasure from them? For me, I find things safe, comfortable and easier than people. I had created a little universe for myself but, rather than opening up my world, I felt suffocated by it. Opening up to new experiences in her late-thirties, Sophie is exploring long repressed sides of herself. When a secret she's keeping from those she loves, and even from herself, threatens to unravel it all, she has to make a choice. Who or what will she decide to give up? Horton says, "Breathless is very personal to me, it took me a long time to realise I was hoarder as media narratives are so extreme, I hope I'm able to bring this topic to the fore through my storytelling at a festival I have loved for years." I always wanted to be a barrister or a hairdresser, so something where I argue my creative corner I suppose. But I've always loved clothes and my Mum runs a dress agency in the Cotswold town I grew up in (shout out to The Attic, Chipping Campden) and I think she has the best job ever. So maybe I'd beg her for some blatant nepotism. An altogether intriguing, sympathetic, and engaging exploration of a difficult and challenging problem. " – Talkin' Broadway

Jo seems great and has taken a genuine interest in Sophie. They’ve been on lots of dates, Sophie gets butterflies and it’s obvious that the two have a real connection. There’s just one problem, Jo wants Sophie to invite her in. Plymouth Laureate of Words, 2021-22, the first playwright in a Laureateship. Soho Theatre Writer’s Lab alumni 2017. In 2020 Horton wrote and produced her first film, A Summer of Birds, Toast of the Fringe winner. Short Plays include: Giddy Tuppy, The Space, ONCOMM winner, 2020; Labyrinth Diet, Arcola Theatre 2019; This I Believe, Theatre Royal Plymouth, Exeter Phoenix, 2019. Full-length plays include: Labyrinth Diet, The Space, London 2021, ONCOMM winner; Triptych, Theatre Royal Plymouth, 2021. She is currently commissioned by Theatre Royal Plymouth. She was listed in The Stage 100 in 2021 for her project Theatre Stories CIC and is an artistic associate of The Space, London. was listed in The Stage 100 in 2021 for her project Theatre Stories CIC. Breathless was selected for the Pleasance and Theatre Royal Plymouth Regional Partnership. After Edinburgh it’s returning to two theatres in Laura’s native South West – playing at the Brewhouse Taunton on Saturday 1st October, and at Exeter’s Phoenix on Sunday 2nd October. When she did get home, seeing everything spilling out of her childhood bedroom and into the neighbouring rooms was “really horrifying,” she says.Heading to Soho Theatre following its Fringe First winning run in Edinburgh, Breathless is a funny, honest and stylish exploration of the knife-edge of hoarding, from the joy to the addiction and suffocating shame. From Laura Horton’s (Plymouth Laureate of Words) own experience of clothes hoarding. What happens when the things we covet hide us from ourselves?

Heading to Soho Theatre following its Fringe First winning run in Edinburgh, Breathless is a funny, honest and stylish exploration of the knife-edge of hoarding, from the joy to the addiction and suffocating shame. From Laura Horton's (Plymouth Laureate of Words) own experience of clothes hoarding. What happens when the things we covet hide us from ourselves? In Laura’s writing we see the adrenaline buzz that the character Sophie gets from acquiring the items of clothing, imagining herself heading out almost as different characters as she dons each new outfit. Perhaps, for me, it is just as well that I have never encountered the thrill of a Sample Sale! There were occasional alarm bells in her twenties, where "I knew I needed to curb it... I think the instincts were there," she says. Yet it had been easy to ignore how bad things were getting, Horton adds, as "it felt normal that women, particularly, had too many clothes." Living with a mental health issue is not something that is easily and neatly resolved, it’s a constant process of work and self-acceptance. This show reflects this through its openness and generosity. As a depiction of bisexuality and queer experience, Breathless is nuanced and honest. In Stephanie Kempson’s well-paced and absorbing production, MacMahon plays Sophie and the other characters with an impressive clarity and precision. Her mild West Country accent works for the scenes with her Mum, who lives in Plymouth, and she uses other accents effectively for other characters. Verity Standen’s music accompanies the character’s emotional world and the simple set avoids literalism. First seen at the Theatre Royal in Plymouth last year, and successful at Edinburgh, this is a welcome London transfer for a show that, while admittedly a bit slender, is nevertheless both heartfelt and heartwarming.Here at TRP we couldn’t be happier to be transferring BREATHLESS into the Soho Theatre, following its massive success at the Fringe last year. BREATHLESS is a homegrown show that was conceived and developed through our artists’ development programmes. It speaks to our ambitions to make exciting new work in Plymouth that we can share across the country. Laura’s writing is tender, funny, and quietly powerful. The play has moved and delighted audiences across Plymouth and Edinburgh and will continue to resonate wherever it goes.” Ben Lyon-Ross Head of Artist Development Right there is the support everyone coming out needs from their parents, and it was these words from her mother that sees Sophie on her first date with a woman – Jo. Breathless is playing at Pleasance Bunker Two at 15:00 and your attendance is strongly encouraged… just someone bring a tissue. Each time I tried to let things go, I’d spend hours agonising over every single piece: the use, memory or dream I had attached to them.’ Photograph: Abbie Trayler-Smith/The Observer As an ex-actress myself, I am passionate about how theatre can enlighten, educate and shine a light on lives, situations and the frailty that is mankind and mental health.

I don't know really, I haven't been to many. But it's a whoooole month, and there's an endurance test in that. If you can get to the end of that, covered in sweat and tears and rain and remorse and STILL believe in your show, you know you've made something worthwhile. Working with Pleasance Theatre Trust offers us such a vital opportunity to support artists from the far South West. Plymouth is a vibrant hub of creative talent but it can be hard to export work further afield, so the partnership is an invaluable pipeline that offer artists exposure, support and a chance to present their work to a range of audiences and industry in Edinburgh.”Ben Lyon-Ross, Talent Development Producer, Theatre Royal Plymouth. Whether you can directly relate to Sophie or not, Breathless is honest, funny and emotional. It puts the human story at the forefront of mental illness and gives you a unique insight into what it’s like to live with every day. I had tears in my eyes by the end because whether it’s hoarding, or hiding something else about yourself, we all just want to be accepted for who we are.Recently classed by WHO as a mental illness with connections to OCD, hoarding, explains Horton, is not always the image we see on TV of teetering masses of boxes and newspapers, carrier bags and garbage. Her protagonist, would-be writer Sophie (Madi Macmahon), just loves a bargain: sample sales and charity shops; the anticipation of the hunt; the delight of the discount; the joy of ownership regardless of whether the designer creations fit or suit. And then there is the shame of a suffocatingly huge amount of beautiful unworn clothes crammed into Sophie’s living space. You can’t move simply between things. My flat is stuffed with possessions and the recollections I attach to them. I feel equally suffocated and sated by my cave of treasures.”