There is something curiously ephemeral about theater: Actors bring a specific world alive onstage for a few weeks or months, then that world vanishes when the play finishes its run. Kristen Bush’s extraordinary presence and stamina as “Emma” in Duncan Macmillan’s dark addiction-recovery drama People, Places and Things at DC’s Studio Theatre was lauded by critics — yet unlike the film and TV milieu, where sites like IMDB offer an itemized track-record of an actor’s screen work, there is no comparable repository to showcase theater reviews. Thus, in the interest of curating the critical accolades for Kiki’s prowess in People, Places and Things, I offer the following outtakes.
“Bush is a performer with a commanding grasp of the task at hand”
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 and 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.
—Washington Post, “Buzz-worthy performance in play about addiction”
“The acting of Kristen Bush is beautifully calibrated”
The acting of Kristen Bush is beautifully calibrated. Ms. Bush plays the part with fluid and quicksilver transitions from anger and impatience to some semblance of acceptance and resilience. Ms. Bush is rarely off the stage and the play demands a huge amount of stamina and presence, which Ms. Bush delivers in spades. It was especially interesting to see that in the ultimate analysis Ms. Bush’s performance steadily developed a quality of subtle intensity that made the fierier moments even more potent.
—Broadway World, “A highly evolved play pushes the boundaries of addiction”
“Hers is a performance you will be transfixed and intoxicated by”
In Studio Theatre’s propulsive production of Duncan Macmillan’s People, Places & Things…the real miracle is the actor who brings Emma shatteringly to life: Kristen Bush. She is onstage the entire two acts. She is the magnetic epicenter of every scene. Her raw inner emotions seem not just exposed but turned inside out. Hers is a performance you will be transfixed and intoxicated by. And you will wonder how on earth she does it.
—DC Theater Arts, “You could get hooked on Kristen Bush in People, Places & Things“
“Kristen Bush delivers a searing [and] superlative performance”
Kristen Bush delivers a searing performance as Emma, a brash and intelligent woman who thinks she can use her acting skills and wit to skate through an inpatient recovery program and get the certification she needs to return to her acting work. Emma armors herself with both hostility and humor to keep the people trying to treat her from getting too close to her trauma. Bush is in every scene of the play, and must exude intensity and vulnerability throughout. It is a superlative performance.
—Theatre Guide, “Review: People, Places & Things at Studio Theatre”
“The range and depth of emotions Bush channels is…sheer stamina”
Bush’s performance sucks the oxygen out of the theater as she writhes and erupts almost at random. The only thing more impressive than the range and depth of emotions Bush channels is her sheer stamina. The parasocial relationship Bush establishes with the audience is both uncomfortable and exhausting.
—Washington City Paper, “Kristen Bush and David Muse Pull off an Electric Production of People, Places & Things“
“Kristen Bush accomplishes two of the more difficult actor feats”
Kristen Bush is put through the tears-and-vomit ringer, but she accomplishes two of the more difficult actor feats: She feels genuinely in-the-moment, surprised by and reacting in real time to the disaster she’s made of her life, and she gives her character a clear and specific personality while also standing in well for the audience. —District Fray, “Addiction, Recovery, Resistance in People, Places & Things”
“Bush’s masterful portrayal…makes Emma feel spontaneous”
Emma remains an enigma throughout the show. Macmillan purposefully writes her as a tabula rasa, pointing out that everything Emma does is a performance. The character still emerges as a real person because of Bush’s masterful portrayal. At once vindictive, irreverent, and vulnerable, Bush makes Emma feel spontaneous even as she portrays the rehearsal her character requires to seem okay.
—The DCist, “Two Shows We Saw At D.C. Theaters”
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