People, Places and Things, National Theatre *****

This is finally the National Theatre at full strength again. It's collaboration with Headlong has created a masterpiece in theatrical spectacle thanks to one person. People, Places and Things will be the play that will catapult Denise Gough into the public eye in her indescribable performance as a drug addict trying to get clean. Her curtain call reminded me of Gillian Anderson at the end of Streetcar; with a face of pure exhaustion and appreciation for the standing ovation that she more than deserved. She is on stage at every moment in the play in a role that uses tiny changes in accent to huge ranges in emotion. Her part requires her to have the audience on her side whilst she is being the most awful human being and perform on a traverse space whilst also moving to Bunny Chrisite's intricate designs and Jeremy Herrin's precise direction. There is one particular moment where I felt so connected with her that I was muttering 'don't do it' under my breath in perhaps the simplest yet most tense moment of theatre possible. A mixture of the clinical design and the clever direction adds yet more life to Duncan Macmillan's text. The post-modern attitude on theatre almost became pretentious but Gough's real portrayal of her character kept me from feeling annoyed at the jokes about Hedda Gabler, The Seagull and Titus Andronicus. The ensemble cast supports Gough wonderfully, especially Barbara Marten, Nathaniel Martello-White and Kevin McMonagie who help maintain a sense of realism. I don't think the National should be worried about another award free year this time around with this genius piece of inventive theatre.