Review: A new play shows drug addiction is tough to dramatize in novel ways
without a riveting turn in that central role, Studio Theatre’s “People, Places & Things” would be a truly agonizing sit. But director David Muse has found in Kristen Bush a performer with a commanding grasp of the formidable task at hand, which is to conjure Emma as her own worst enemy in the process of recovery, yet remain compelling enough that an audience doesn’t feel cast out into a wilderness of indifference.
Bush fulfills the essential mission and then some, enlisting us convincingly as witnesses to the train wreck of her character’s life, and at the same time leaning into an audience’s dogged belief in redemption. “People, Places & Things” walks us far out onto a limb with Emma, testing our faith in both a resistant patient and the efficacy of 12-step treatment programs.
Muse’s production, staged fashion-runway-style in the Victor Shargai Theatre between opposing banks of seats, offers other exceptional performances, particularly from Jahi Kearse as an addict with a more grounded perspective on the value of treatment, and Jeanne Paulsen as the doctor who gently encourages Emma’s better impulses.
If that and the unsparing portrait of Emma sound engrossing to you, then you’re a potentially satisfied customer for the 2½-hour drama. I’m hedging because the subject so lacks in novelty and only budges grudgingly from the predictable. When we meet her, Emma is an actress in an Ibsen drama, blacking out mid-scene and soon landing voluntarily in a clinic; much of the play revolves not only around Emma’s ambivalence about a cure, but also the skills at deception that she has honed onstage.
Debra Booth’s set pieces suggest the institutional blandness of an environment with few social distractions, but something might be done about the banging around one hears, offstage left and right, as actors deal with the beds and other equipment they wheel on and off. Lindsay Jones’s music and Andrew Cissna’s lighting add commendably to conveying the harshness of the journey Emma has cut out for herself.
Canada Latest News, Canada Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Lourdes Leon says she was raised to be 'smarter' than a nepotism babyLourdes Leon says she was raised to be 'smarter' than a nepotism baby: 'Nepotism babies are pretty awful usually, and my mom and my father raised me to be so much smarter than that.”
Read more »
‘Please be kind this weekend:’ Cincinnati Kroger manager’s post goes viralOver 1.1 thousand people upvoted the thread on Reddit, and more than 200 people commented.
Read more »
Here are the places and apps that want in on sports betting in Mass.From a new program to boost early education in the state, to a deadly crash at an Apple store in Hingham, here's what you need to know today.
Read more »
Empty churches, deserted mansions: An exploration of New Mexico's abandoned placesJohn Mulhouse's book 'Abandoned New Mexico' shows empty churches, bars, homes and other buildings from around the Land of Enchantment. He shares what he loves most about this US state.
Read more »
Places to volunteer, donate to those in need on Thanksgiving in UtahLooking for opportunities to volunteer or donate to those in need this week? Here are some we found from across the state of Utah:
Read more »