Duncan Macmillan’s play People, Places and Things opened last night at Coal Mine Theatre.  It premiered in London in 2015 and has now been adapted to relocate the setting to Toronto and to customize the movement elements to the small, intimate space at Coal Mine.  It’s a play about addiction, addiction treatment, theatre and how we construct and cope with “reality” (whatever that is).  It’s long, intense, disturbing and, ultimately, very thought provoking.

We follow the story of Emma (if that is her name); an actor who is seeking treatment at CAMH for a pretty serious drink and drugs problem.  The complication is that Emma can’t buy into the metaphysical assumptions of the “12 step program”, has her own views on reality and seeks to control and manipulate every situation she is in.  The chemically altered state is her substitute for the heightened emotional experience of being on stage; both compared to drabness of every day life.  The problem is that drink and drugs are easily available whereas good parts are hard to come by.

Her first experience of rehab is characterised by her fighting back against process to the frustration of the other members of her therapy group and treatment staff.  After a relapse she tries again with a different approach and succeeds well enough to try and reconcile with her family.  It’s not a great success.  One can overcome addiction but it doesn’t alter reality which poses the key question, is the problem the addict or a fundamentally screwed up society?

Along this journey we encounter other characters who are each trying to deal with this fundamental problem in their own way; whether it’s other addicts looking for a way to survive (or not) or treatment staff trying to help in a context where they are perfectly aware that they are a Bandaid on a wider problem.  Ultimately everyone deals with “reality” as best they can.  Even if that’s by taking the Wile E. Coyote approach of not looking down.

As theatre it’s extremely well done.  Director Diana Bentley and Movement Director Alyssa Martin have found an approach to using the space that, coupled with brilliant lighting (Bonnie Beecher and Jeff Pybus) and sound design (Thomas Ryder Payne) makes scenes like the detox episodes almost overwhelmingly intense with the Ensemble wigged as alternative Emmas or in crow-like black creating truly infernal chaos.  Cleverly Emma’s doctor, therapist and mother are all played, with subtle differences, by Fiona Reid.  All authority figures look alike to Emma.

It’s staged in the round which makes for great intimacy which is disturbingly effective when things turn violent.  Oliver Dennis portrays some terrifying psychotic episodes as the elderly Paul.  Farhang Ghajar and Matthew Couveia are wonderful as two, more or less recovered, patients who are now on staff and see through Emma better than anyone.  There’s also terrific work by Nickeshia Garrick, Sam Grist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson and Kwaku Okyere who make up the rest of Emma’s therapy group but also participate in several scenes with great energy as Emma’s inner demons.  Then of course there’s Louise Lambert as Emma who is on stage for pretty much the whole play.  It’s a very brave performance and she conveys a complex emotional development with great clarity and intensity.

The play lasts over two hours and has some scenes which most people will find deeply disturbing.  The subject matter is visceral and thought provoking.  There’s enough subtle humour along the way to stop it feeling too didactic and besides, while it raises a lot of questions it really doesn’t provide any satisfactory answers, so it doesn’t feel preachy.  It’s good theatre though there’s no satisfyingly cathartic payoff.

People, Places and Things runs at Coal Mine Theatre until March 7th.

Photo credits:Elana Emer and Barry McClusky