Denise Gough on reprising her role in People Places & Things

Nearly ten years since it swept Theatreland, hit play People Places and Things is back on the West End. The cast is all new, except for star of the show, Denise Gough. She plays Emma, a struggling actor who checks herself into a rehab clinic for alcohol and drug addiction.

At the show’s opening night, Gough spoke to the Londoner about what’s changed since the 2015 production. “I think that the language and the dialogue around addiction is deeper, and there is a new generation of younger people who are so much more open to the conversation,” she said.

The Irish actor has only recently spoken of the eerie parallels between her character in the play and her own life. After traumatic teenage years, Gough became a drug addict in her twenties, and was homeless for a period while she looked for acting work. She has now been sober for 17 years, and won two Olivier awards.

“It's different in so many ways for me, it's just deeper,” she said of playing Emma this time around. “I have ten more years of experience in my body so she gets the benefit of that.” The play’s reprisal has had rave reviews, including five stars from the Standard’s Nick Curtis. “I just don't think a play about connection can ever go out of fashion,” Gough mused.

Sinead Cusack and Jeremy Irons (Piers Allardyce)

Co-stars include Sinead Cusack, who plays three roles: Emma’s therapist, doctor and mother. “I thought today I would love to play Sinead's part in future,” Gough told us, adding that her version of Emma was not long for this world. “I reckon I've got about a year left, and then she's gone”. The play will run for fourteen weeks at the Trafalgar Theatre.

Register now for one of the Evening Standard’s newsletters. From a daily news briefing to Homes & Property insights, plus lifestyle, going out, offers and more. For the best stories in your inbox, click here.