WORTH A LOOK?: ****

WHERE: Wyndhams Theatre

WHEN: 11/4, runs to 18/6

Denise Gough’s electrifying performance as a recovering drug addict in this original production which debuted at the revitalised National Theatre deservedly won her a best actress Olivier Award this month.

• Read on for reasons to catch Gough in this West End run

She also joins Andrew Garfield and Russell Tovey in the cast of the National’s production of the much-loved Angels In America set to open in a year’s time.

There’s nothing like the story of a washed-up actress to prick the sentimentality of those who truly love the theatre (see Glenn Close’s tremendous turn currently bossing the West End in Sunset Boulevard) and Gough plucks those strings here, morphing via twitching junkie entering rehab, through sceptic and to somewhere altogether more interesting at the conclusion.

Trailer:

The stage set will be familiar to anyone who’s seen the National’s similarly acclaimed The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time and particularly impressive is a visual trick which sees a handful of Goughs invade the stage.

Duncan Macmillan’s script never quite manages to be as groundbreaking or tour de force as the performance Gough is giving and that’s why this West End transfer loses one of its potential stars.

However, Gough’s work is must-see and, if she can repeat it, she’s going to be quite the star her character in People, Places and Things so aspires to be.

• Picture by Johan Persson via Facebook courtesy People, Places and Things. Tickets here.
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