On the stage

15th June 2016

I think sometimes it’s better to go to a play or film with no expectations, as I did earlier this week when I went to see ‘People, Places and Things‘ at Wyndhams Theatre. What a revelation to discover not only a great play, but a single performance that is among the finest I’ve seen in a 60 year love affair with the theatre. Before the show, I’d never heard of Denise Gough, but her performance as a reforming drug addict and alcoholic is blistering, and it’s the only time I’ve seen the audience rise as one as the curtain came down and hail a new star. As a young man, I remember Maggie Smith’s performance as Beatrice, Edith Evans’ nurse in Romeo and Juliet, and Harriet Walters’ Lady Macbeth. And now I’ve found another actress who, along with Eve Best, if her name is on the billboard I will buy a ticket.