The two-time Olivier winner returns to the West End in a new adaptation of the classic allegorical western.
Irish actress Denise Gough was born in Wexford in 1980 and grew up in Ennis, County Clare. She studied at the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts in London and graduated in 2003. To date, she has won two Olivier Awards and is particularly famous for her performance in People, places and things.
On screen, Gough is perhaps best known for her role as the ambitious Dedra Meero in Star Wars spin-off Andor. She also played the title role in the British-Irish detective series. Paulaand starred alongside Emily Watson in the ITV series Too closefor which she was nominated for a BAFTA in 2022.
In a 2024 interview with LondonTheatre.co.uk, Gough spoke about her experience of being homeless as a teenager in London and her own journey to sobriety. She is also a passionate campaigner for social and political issues and has called herself the ‘Jeremy Corbyn of theatre’.
Gough returns to the stage this December in a stage adaptation of the classic western Midi top at the Harold Pinter Theatre. Read on to find out more about her stage appearances so far.
Book Midi top tickets at LondonTheatre.co.uk.
Near the cat bog (2004) and As you like it (2005)
Marina Carr’s 1998 play, inspired by the myth of Medea, made its West End debut at Wyndham’s Theatre, directed by Dominic Cooke and starring Academy Award winner Holly Hunter as the Irish traveler’s witchy protagonist, Hester Swane. Gough made her professional debut as Caroline Cassidy, the 20-year-old daughter of a local landowner who marries Hester’s former lover. She continued in the same place to play Phebe in As you like itwith Helen McCrory, Dominic West and Sienna Miller.
Continuation of initial work
Gough continued to build his career in further work at Liverpool Playhouse, Hampstead Theatre, Royal Court, Soho Theater and West Yorkshire Playhouse. She returned to the West End as a stepdaughter in Six characters in search of an author (transferred from Chichester Festival Theatre) which starred Ian McDiarmid.
Gough played lawyer Mary Jane Hanrahan in a revival of the American prison drama Jesus jumped on the A train at Trafalgar Studios and Nora Clitheroe in The plow and the stars at the Abbey Theater in Dublin. She also played JMW Turner’s model Jenny in The painterthe inaugural production at the new Arcola Theater premises, written by Rebecca Lenkiewicz and starring Toby Jones in the lead role.
Our new girl And Desire under the elms (2012)
Gough gained prominence in 2012 when she was nominated for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the Evening Standard Theater Awards with two roles. First, she played Annie, an Irish nanny in London in Our new girl by Nancy Harris, a dark satire on modern parenting. Second, in a reworking of Eugene O’Neill’s book Desire under the elms at the Lyric Hammersmith, she plays the provocative Abbie Putnam, the third wife of a 70-year-old farmer.
The Duchess of Malfi (2014)
Following Tim Crouch Adler and Gibbs at the Royal Court, Gough appeared in Sam Wanamaker Playhouse’s first candlelight production – John Webster’s The Duchess of Malfi directed by Dominic Dromgoole. Gemma Arterton played the title role and Gough played Julia, an unfaithful wife married to a much older man. The reviewer from LondonTheatre.co.uk highlighted “an excellent performance from Denise Gough”.
People, places and things (2015-17 and 2024)
Gough finally got the opportunity to direct a major production when she was cast as Emma in Duncan Macmillan’s film. People, places and things at the National Theater. Emma is an actress and drug addict who goes through rehab and is forced to confront her own identity without having a persona to hide behind.
Originally staged at the Dorfman Theater at the National, People, places and things earned Gough her first Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play and a Critics’ Circle Award. When the show transferred to the West End, the reviewer for LondonTheatre.co.uk said that Gough’s performance involved “acting so raw, so tangible, so felt, so passionate, so hurt but alive, so depressed but never released, that it delights and astonishes”. It transferred to Brooklyn’s St Ann’s Warehouse in 2017, where Gough was nominated for a Drama Desk Award.
When she reprized the role in 2024 at Trafalgar Studios, Gough was struck by how the language and debate around addiction had changed for the better in the nine years since the play was first performed. She told LondonTheatre.co.uk: “I understand much more deeply why Emma might do the things she does. […] Because we did not then have access to [the information] we have access to it now. In LondonTheatre.co.uk’s five-star review, our reviewer noted: “What remains clear is that Gough’s titanic performance is still the beating heart of this play.” A seven-year hiatus from the role has not dulled any of her wonderful edges.
Angels in America (2018)
Gough’s next major theatrical role was as Harper Pitt in Marianne Elliott’s revival of Tony Kushner’s epic AIDS drama. Angels in America at the National Theater with Andrew Garfield, Nathan Lane and Russell Tovey. LondonTheatre.co.uk’s glowing five-star review remarked that Gough was “unstoppable in every way, distinct in her mannerisms but universal in her delivery which confirms her as one of our finest actresses of our time and a tour de force at every turn”. She was recognized with an Olivier Award for Best Supporting Actress and transferred with the production to Broadway.
Midi top (2025)
In 2002, Gough played the title role in Marina Carr’s film. Portia Coughlan at the Abbey Theater in Dublin, and she made a one-night appearance in White Rabbit Red Rabbit at @sohoplace next People, places and things last year. This fall, she returns to the West End in a stage adaptation of the 1952 Hollywood western. Midi topwhich starred Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly and served as an allegory for the Hollywood blacklist under Joseph McCarthy.
That of Eric Roth (Forrest Gump, Dune) an exciting new adaptation is directed by Thea Sharrock (Equus, After the dance) and Gough co-stars with Billy Crudup (The morning show, The coast of utopia), which made its West End debut in Harry Clarke last year. The show promises to be “not just a play – it’s a wake-up call”, exploring themes of courage, integrity and love. This seems very appropriate, especially in light of Gough’s interests in politics and justice.
Book Midi top tickets at LondonTheatre.co.uk.
Photo credit: Denise Gough. (Photo by Michael Wharley). Insert: Gough in people, places and things. (Courtesy of the production)
