Review: People, Places and Things, Trafalgar Theatre

Do any amount of research on People, Places and Things and you will find page after page of praise for Denise Gough’s performance as Emma, both for her original 2016 turn as Duncan Macmillan’s leading character, and now for her west end reprise of the role. She deserves every paragraph of it, returning as a more experienced actor adding even more weight to the subtle moments of desperation – instances that punch you in the gut even harder than the physical displays of anguish.

However, to think of the Jeremy Herrin directed production as solely a showcase for her extraordinary talent would be doing it a disservice. The play is one of the most accurate and moving pieces of art exploring mental illness and addiction of recent times.

A key theme of the play is the concept of reality, and everything Gough’s character does is an attempt to avoid it, from excessive use of drugs and alcohol, to lies about her background and her name, down to her profession as an actor in which she has the opportunity to pretend to be someone else on stage every night – speaking the perfect lines she says being the only time she feels she is saying something true.

The set design also works to obscure reality, a traverse stage lets you see the audience opposite reacting to every line, and withdrawal symptoms are depicted by intense lighting and sound and synchronised writhing and retching by multiple Emma clones.

Despite all this, the production is made to feel heartbreakingly real by an ensemble cast all playing their parts to perfection. Kevin McMonagle, Sinéad Cusack and Malachi Kirby all playing multiple roles and receiving visceral reactions from the audience. References to excess and desperation are initially met with laughs, but the laughter dissipates as the references and depictions continue. Emma’s rehab group share stories of their struggles and failed recovery attempts while managing to avoid clichés and oversimplifications which can often plight other work on this subject matter.

No cure or quick fix is promised to any of the characters in this play; a second act full of callbacks alludes to the fact that some cannot escape the people, places and things that have control over their lives, that there’s a reason reality can be so difficult to face unfiltered.

I would highly recommend you take your students to see this play while you can. A simply incredible example of acting, set design, sound and lighting come together to handle vital topics with care and nuance – they will leave the theatre moved and inspired.