Interludes

THE HANGOVER REPORT – Denise Gough reprises her stunning breakthrough performance in PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS at St. Ann’s Warehouse

• By drediman
• October 26, 2017
• No Comments

Denise Gough in Duncan MacMillan’s “People, Places & Things” at St. Ann’s Warehouse.

Last night, the National Theatre and Headlong’s acclaimed production of People, Places & Things had its American premiere at St. Ann’s Warehouse in Brooklyn. I had seen Duncan MacMillan’s play about one woman’s tempestuous dealings with addiction and rehab in the West End a few years ago and recall walking away from the theater abuzz with excitement over what I had just witnessed. Arguably, this remount at St. Ann’s flexible new playing space is even more impressive, allowing director Jeremy Herrin to fully realize his stylish, sensory-driven vision for the play (his staging calls for the stage to be flanked by seating on two sides, which is logistically difficult to achieve in a traditional proscenium setting).

In the role of Emma, the enigmatic woman at the heart of the play, Denise Gough reprises her stunning Olivier Award-winning breakthrough performance. She’s just as magnificent here – as before, I was at once repelled and seduced by Emma’s impulsive and reckless decision-making as her life spirals out of control. Indeed, her emotionally and physically restless performance is one of the most compulsively watchable pieces of acting I’ve seen in recent memory.

Even if the play feels a tad long (the play may be better served as a 90-minute stunner), Mr. Herrin’s endlessly inventive production is consistently arresting, visually and aurally. And of course, Ms. Gough’s performance simply cannot be missed. I eagerly await her Harper in the upcoming Broadway revival of Tony Kushner’s Angels in America this winter.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED 

PEOPLE, PLACES & THINGS
Off-Broadway, Play
St. Ann’s Warehouse
2 hours, 20 minutes (with one intermission)
Through December 3