PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS // FEBRUARY 9 - MARCH 9, 2025


“A play that is as funny as it is devastating … As intimate as it is harrowing… a must-see production.” — Critics at Large

THE COAL MINE THEATRE PRESENTS THE CANADIAN ENGLISH-LANGUAGE PREMIERE OF:

PEOPLE, PLACES AND THINGS

By Duncan Macmillan
Directed by Diana Bentley
Movement Direction by Alyssa Martin

Emma was having the time of her life. Now she's in rehab. Her first step is to admit that she has a problem. But the problem isn't with Emma, it's with everything else. She needs to tell the truth. But she's smart enough to know that there's no such thing. When intoxication feels like the only way to survive the modern world, how can she ever sober up?

“…a vibrant play that draws parallels between theatre and rehab…Macmillan also offers a critique of a society in which addiction is partly a response to the surrounding chaos, and where the generic uplift of marketing-speak pervades everything from politics to religion.”
– The Guardian (UK)

“Generous-spirited, with a strong streak of irreverent, darkly humane humour, the play…has a thoughtful, shifting ambivalence that suits a problem where the solutions can only ever be provisional and the amends inadequate.”
– The Independent (UK)

People, Places and Things had its world premiere in the Dorfman space at the National Theatre in 2015 (a co-production with company Headlong). Following both public and critical acclaim, People, Places & Things transferred to the Wyndham’s Theatre in the West End in 2016. The show then crossed the pond to St Ann’s Warehouse, an Off-Broadway venue in New York, in 2017.

CAST

  • LOUISE LAMBERT

  • OLIVER DENNIS

  • Nickeshia Garrick

    NICKESHIA GARRICK

  • Farhang Ghajar

    FARHANG GHAJAR

  • Matthew Gouveia

    MATTHEW GOUVEIA

  • Sam Grist

    SAM GRIST

  • Sarah Murphy- Dyson

    SARAH MURPHY-DYSON

  • Kwaku Okyere

    KWAKU OKYERE

  • Fiona Reid

    FIONA REID

  • Kaleb Tekeste

    KALEB TEKESTE

CREATIVE TEAM

PLAYWRIGHT: Duncan Macmillan
DIRECTOR: Diana Bentley
MOVEMENT DIRECTOR: Alyssa Martin
SET DESIGN: Steve Lucas
COSTUME DESIGN: Laura Delchiaro
LIGHTING DESIGN: Bonnie Beecher & Jeff Pybus
SOUND DESIGN: Thomas Ryder Payne
STAGE MANAGER: Katie Fitz-Gerald
APPRENTICE STAGE MANAGER: Kayleigh Mundy
DANCE CAPTAIN: Sam Grist

PRODUCTION MANAGEMENT: WxW (What by When )

DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTION: Wesley Babcock (WXW)
PRODUCTION MANAGER: Erik Richards (WXW)
TECHNICAL DIRECTOR: Mojo Noble (WxW)
HEAD OF PROPS: Bill Corcoran & Matthew Hall
WARDROBE ASSISTANT: Nala Lendor
HOUSE TECHNICIAN: Lilian Adom
WARDROBE ASSISTANT: Nala Lendor
LIGHTING PROGRAMMER: Jeff Pybus

PRODUCED BY: Liza Hersh and Ted Dykstra

REVIEWS

"Boldly helmed by Diana Bentley and centred on Louise Lambert’s magnetic lead performance, Coal Mine Theatre’s production of “People, Places and Things” is at once intimate and bombastic in its depiction of addiction, recovery and self-actualization"

— Toronto Star

"It’s a must-see production that reminds us recovery isn’t just hard work—it’s a reckoning with the truth."

— Critics at Large

The ensemble — a mesmerizing configuration of Nickeshia Garrick, Sam Grist, Sarah Murphy-Dyson, Kwaku Okyere, and Kaleb Tekeste — contour the narrow space in angular, almost painful-looking physical unity. 

— Intermission Magazine