People, Places And Things Review – Denise Gough Reprises A Shattering Story Of Addiction
Trafalgar theatre, London
The Olivier award-winner returns to her role as an actor in rehab in Duncan Macmillan’s brutally powerful play
Duncan Macmillan’s 2015 play about addiction is a tricksy and unnerving thing, even for those who know what’s coming. This reprise of the original National Theatre and Headlong production reunites some of its main players including director Jeremy Herrin and Denise Gough, who won an Olivier award for her lead performance.
Gough plays Emma, an actor undergoing rehab for drink and drug addiction with no clear backstory. We follow her into a rehabilitation centre and a therapy circle of addicts telling their respective stories. At first it seems like a paler version of Lucy Prebble’s The Effect, recently revived at the National Theatre. The group scenes are protracted yet do not travel deep enough into the philosophical questions raised, and rehearse much that is overfamiliar, from the testimonies of those in rehab to the relationship between addict and therapist (Sinéad Cusack). There are also mentions of Trump, Ukraine and Covid, rather too shoehorned in.
At Trafalgar theatre, London, until 10 August
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