People, Places and Things to return to the West End with Denise Gough

Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places and Things will return for a new run in the West End.

The play, directed by Jeremy Herrin, is about Emma, an actress who checks herself into rehab to combat her drug and alcohol addictions. In her five-star review for WhatsOnStage, Daisy Bowie Sell said the production was “heady, superb and intoxicating”. The show had critically-acclaimed runs at the National Theatre and Wyndham’s Theatre (where it extended its run), followed by a major UK tour.

It will now return for a new limited season at the Trafalgar Theatre on Whitehall, running from 3 May until 10 August 2024. 

The show will star Denise Gough, reprising her Olivier and Critics’ Circle Theatre Award-winning role as Emma. She said today: “I am beyond excited and so grateful to be returning to the role of Emma in People, Places and Things. Duncan Macmillan’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.”

Macmillan added: “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.”

The piece will feature on-stage seating as part of Bunny Christie’s design, while the creative team also includes costume designer Christina Cunningham, lighting designer James Farncombe, composer Matthew Herbert, sound designer Tom Gibbons, video designer Andrzej Goulding, movement director Polly Bennett, casting director Jessica Ronane with original casting by Wendy Spon. Further casting to be announced.

Tickets will go on sale to the public, on Friday 15 March at 10am, from £20.