(4 / 5)
 
People, Places and Things by Headlong Theatre has taken the theatre scene by storm. Debuting at the National Theatre, London , the production was all anyone could talk about.
Touring the UK, a different cast still brings the story and theatrical experience from a world famous stage to our local venues.

Taking on the issue of addiction, we are taken though the life of Sarah as she undertakes rehab and combats her stubbornness against asking for help. We meet other characters, learning their stories and the different ways addiction manifests.
The naturalism from the actors is fantastic. There is no stereotyping of ‘junkies’ or the help they receive that we see on television and projected by the media. The stories are hard hitting where we are thrown from sympathy to dislike and to understanding.
Adding to the performers, the staging, lighting and sound adds to emphasising the clinical rehab atmosphere as well as helping us to understand moments of reaction from drug taking and the reaction of coming off them.

The stage is interchangeable and develops into different rooms with ease. The audience are placed either side making it feel as if we looking into a box – something like a zoo or science experiment adding to the sense of combating our original thoughts of addiction.

People, Places and Things is a hard hitting revelation of a play, taking our initial misconceptions and bringing forward the truth.

Hannah Goslin