Gala Gordon on why you should watch Denise Gough in 'People, Places & Things'
I distinctly remember the overwhelming feeling I had eight years ago, as I sat in the audience of the Wyndham’s theatre in awe of Denise Gough: I was breathless, sucker-punched by her dynamic performance as Emma, an actor with alcohol and drug problems, in People, Places & Things.
At the time, I was an aspiring actress, and returned to see the playwright Duncan Macmillan’s masterpiece another two times. The morning after my third viewing, I woke with courage to write to Gough. I crafted my words carefully with a polite request for her to be my mentor, closed my eyes and clicked ‘send’ on Facebook. Almost a year later, while I was ambling down Portobello Road, her dulcet Irish tones stopped me in my tracks. "Gala is that you?" Gough shouted, quick to explain she had meant to get back to me but had been busy preparing for her role on Broadway in Angels in America (for which she landed a Tony) however, she would be thrilled to be a part of my life and share any wisdom she had.
Since then, she has been a mentor and great friend. She has been incredibly thoughtful: from sending a gift to my stage door in advance of a play I had produced and was performing in, to taking to the stage several times in support of the global writers prize I founded – you name it, she did it.
A responsibility to support the tapestry of our industry runs deep in Gough’s bones. She is vocal, authentic and brave. Only recently has she demanded that actors in a position of power call out bad behaviour in the industry, advising younger people to "find an ally from an older generation who can support you". Gough certainly practices what she preaches.
Interviewing her now feels all the more special. She won an Olivier for her role as Emma, and on reprising it, she says: "I now have eight more years of life in my fingers and toes. I am looking at her and sculpting her from a different place." I ask whether being a little a bit older than the character you’re playing adds another dimension. "The neural pathways of a character are ingrained," she explains. "The great thing about Jeremy Herrin as a director, is he encourages me to release the old – the things that are meant to stay will stay." Gough muses on the way trauma is hereditary, and how that manifests in the body.
Gough believed new life was breathed into the play through the casting. "We wanted to allow the actors to have a new experience; it is emotionally life-changing." The acting icon Sinead Cusack plays Gough’s mother in the production. Gough is Irish-born, so this is a particularly significant moment; she has now worked with all three Cusack sisters. "We don’t have the royal family in Ireland, we have the Cusacks," she explains, "it is a joke in my house, that Sinead should’ve been my mother. And now she is."
Gough believes that the timing of the production feels appropriate, as it comes not long after the collective trauma of the pandemic. "We are experiencing global and societal PTSD," Gough says. "We went through an apocalypse together and separately. So, the play returning now will be very soothing – it’s hopeful, it’s a call to connection."
'People, Places & Things' is at the Trafalgar Theatre until 10 August.
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