Denise Gough (born 28 February 1980) is an Irish actress. She is the elder sister of the actress Kelly Gough. She has worked in film, television, video games and theatre. Gough is a double

Olivier Award The Laurence Olivier Awards, or simply the Olivier Awards, are presented annually by the Society of London Theatre to recognise excellence in professional theatre in London at an annual ceremony in the capital. The awards were originally known a ...

winner.

Early life

Born in Ennis, County Clare, daughter of an electrician, Gough is the seventh of eleven siblings. One of her younger sisters is the actress Kelly Gough. She trained as a soprano before leaving Ireland for London at 15. She was awarded a grant to study at the

Academy of Live and Recorded Arts The Academy of Live and Recorded Arts (ALRA) was a British drama school. It had two sites: ALRA South on Wandsworth Common in south London and ALRA North in Wigan, Greater Manchester. It was founded in 1979 by director and actor Sorrel Carson w ...

(ALRA) in Wandsworth aged 18, and graduated from ALRA in 2003.

Theatre

In 2012, she was nominated for the Milton Shulman Award for Outstanding Newcomer at the

Evening Standard Theatre Awards The ''Evening Standard'' Theatre Awards, established in 1955, are the oldest theatrical awards ceremony in the United Kingdom. They are presented annually for outstanding achievements in London Theatre, and are organised by the ''Evening Standar ...

for her performances in

Eugene O'Neill Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (October 16, 1888 – November 27, 1953) was an American playwright and Nobel laureate in Nobel Prize in Literature, literature. His poetically titled plays were among the first to introduce into the U.S. the drama tech ...

's ''

Desire Under the Elms ''Desire Under the Elms'' is a 1924 play written by Eugene O'Neill. Like ''Mourning Becomes Electra'', ''Desire Under the Elms'' signifies an attempt by O'Neill to adapt plot elements and themes of Greek tragedy to a rural New England setting. ...

'' at the

Lyric Hammersmith The Lyric Theatre, also known as the Lyric Hammersmith, is a theatre on Lyric Square, off King Street, Hammersmith, London.

and

Nancy Harris Nancy Harris is an Irish playwright and screenwriter. She was given the Rooney Prize for Irish Literature in 2012. Early life and education Harris is the daughter of Anne and Eoghan Harris. She was educated at Trinity College Dublin, earning a B ...

''Our New Girl'' at the Bush Theatre. In January 2014 she was Julia in '' The Duchess of Malfi'', the inaugural production at the

Sam Wanamaker Playhouse The Sam Wanamaker Playhouse is an indoor theatre forming part of Shakespeare's Globe, along with the Globe Theatre on Bankside, London. Built making use of 17th-century plans for an indoor theatre, the playhouse recalls the layout and style of th ...

, London. At the National Theatre, London, in September 2015 she presented an "electrifying" performance as a recovering substance user in Duncan Macmillan's ''

People, Places and Things ''People, Places and Things'' is a play by the British playwright Duncan Macmillan. The inaugural production was directed by Jeremy Herrin and staged at the National Theatre in London in 2015. The play was widely praised by critics for its depi ...

'', directed by

Jeremy Herrin Jeremy Herrin is an English theatre director. He is the artistic director of Headlong Theatre. Career Having trained at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama in Glasgow, Herrin was an assistant director ...

. She reprised the role when the production transferred to the

Wyndham's Theatre Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by actor/manager Charles Wyndham (the other is the Criterion Theatre). Located on Charing Cross Road in the City of Westminster, it was designed c.1898 by W. G. R. Sprague, the archit ...

in March 2016, and subsequently won the

Olivier Award for Best Actress The Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Play is an annual award presented by the Society of London Theatre in recognition of achievements in commercial London theatre. The awards were established as the Society of West End Theatre Awards ...

. She returned to the National Theatre in April 2017 playing the role of Harper in Marianne Elliot's revival of

Tony Kushner Anthony Robert Kushner (born July 16, 1956) is an American author, playwright, and screenwriter. Lauded for his work on stage he's most known for his seminal work ''Angels in America'' which earned a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award. At the turn ...

's play ''

Angels in America ''Angels in America: A Gay Fantasia on National Themes'' is a two-part play by American playwright Tony Kushner. The work won numerous awards, including the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, the Tony Award for Best Play, and the Drama Desk Award f ...

,'' for which she won the 2018 Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. Gough then returned to ''People, Places & Things'' for its New York transfer. Gough returned to the role of Harper in the

Broadway Broadway may refer to: Theatre * Broadway Theatre (disambiguation) * Broadway theatre, theatrical productions in professional theatres near Broadway, Manhattan, New York City, U.S. ** Broadway (Manhattan), the street **Broadway Theatre (53rd Stree ...

transfer of the National Theatre's production of ''Angels in America'', alongside the majority of the London cast, in February 2018.

Stage roles

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gough, Denise 1980 births Living people 20th-century Irish actresses 21st-century Irish actresses Alumni of the Academy of Live and Recorded Arts Irish film actresses Irish stage actresses Irish television actresses Irish video game actresses Irish voice actresses People from Ennis Theatre World Award winners