Emma was having the time of her life. Now she’s in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But the problem isn’t with Emma, it’s with everything else. She needs to tell the truth. But she’s smart enough to know that there’s no such thing. When intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world, how can she ever sober up?
Denise Gough will reprise her Olivier Award-winning role as Emma, a struggling actress whose life is spinning recklessly out of control in Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things. Gough won ‘Best Actress’ at the 2016 Olivier Awards and at the Critics’ Circle Theatre Awards for her performance at the National Theatre in 2015.
Denise says, “I am beyond excited and so grateful to be returning to the role of Emma. Duncan’s incredible play was a life changing experience for me and many others. It brought me pure joy, night after night, to take to the stage to share Emma’s story and I can’t wait to bring her back to new audiences and to give voice, and space, to people that live with or have experienced any form of addiction”
Playwright, Duncan Macmillan, said: “The debut of People, Places and Things was a really special time. The play had taken me almost a decade to write and came partly out of a frustration with how addiction is typically portrayed on stage and screen. Under Jeremy Herrin’s compassionate direction, the company visited treatment centres and worked closely with people in recovery. We all felt a responsibility to make the play, primarily, for those who know what it is to live with addiction, for them to feel represented and seen. We did not expect the incredible response the play received when it first opened and its momentum has only increased over the years, not least because of Denise Gough’s now mythic central performance. She is, for me, the greatest actor of my generation and it is my great fortune that she took the role then and thrilling that she’s returning to it now.”
Director, Jeremy Herrin, adds: “When I was Artistic Director of Headlong, I read Duncan Macmillan’s play, and I knew I had an opportunity to make a production with real power. With Denise Gough as Emma, it felt like we connected deeply with audiences at the National Theatre, in the West End and in New York. The show seemed to be stimulating, entertaining and deeply emotional. I am delighted to reunite with Denise, Duncan and the creative team to share People, Places and Things with new audiences, and I am grateful to all our colleagues and partners who have made it possible.”
Trafalgar Theatre, 14 Whitehall, London, SW1A 2DY from 3 May 2 – 10 August.
Booking: https://trafalgartheatre.com/ – 0333 009 6690
nationaltheatre.org.uk – 020 7452 3000
