People Places & Things – Trafalgar Theatre
I’d heard the premise before going to see this. I knew it was about an actress with an addiction problem going to rehab, to get the paper that lets her get back to work. Yet it was much more than this - an intensive journey, from the excruciating detox to all the mental anguish, conceptualisation, denial, and the hopeful, desperate, desire to get better. It was a truly cathartic watch.
Denise Gough’s characterisation was phenomenal, we saw all the nooks and crannies of this complex woman. Her visceral performance brought Emma’s story to life, and made the meta moments, the reminders that we are watching actors, even more trippy because her character was so embodied and real. There was a moment in the first scene where the back of the stage is ripped away, and throughout the drama, this ...