An intoxicating new play about surviving in the modern world.

"Macmillan doesn’t shy away from difficult questions about addiction and recovery and, rightly, doesn’t answer them ... this is a bold, timely and searching play" - Financial Times 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? People, Places & Things premiered at the National Theatre in 2015 before transferring to London’s West End and St. Ann’s Warehouse in New York. Published for the first time in Methuen Drama's Modern Classics series, this edition features a brand new introduction by Naomi Obeng.

"Duncan Macmillan is not the first dramatist to tackle addiction. What gives his new play exceptional vibrancy, though, is its decision to draw parallels between rehab and theatrical process, and to present the action from the addict’s point of view...a vivid tale" - Guardian

"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" - Independent

"Macmillan doesn’t shy away from difficult questions about addiction and recovery and, rightly, doesn’t answer them. Is Emma messed up because of her past, the state of the world or the purposelessness of life? Or is she self-absorbed, self-pitying and deceitful? Is the spiritual aspect to Alcoholics Anonymous problematic? And, if it works, does that matter? He is plain about the hard grind of recovery, for everyone involved. And he touches on broader questions about the pros and cons of role-play — in theatre, in therapy and in life...this is a bold, timely and searching play" - Financial Times