‘Sniff‘ is a gritty and raw double hander, where two strangers from two completely different walks of life meet by ‘coincidence’ in a pub toilet.

Liam, played by Gabriel Fogarty-Graveson, is your typical lads’ lad, cracking banter, taking the piss and is ultimately embodied and performed excellently by Fogarty-Graveson. Liam’s confidence masked his struggles as a lonely addict, with gambling taking any hope he ever had of escaping this slow unnamed town.

Alex, played by Felix Grainger is a hot prospect “nepo baby” with a big time advertising job in Canary Wharf, who is visiting this quaint pub with his girlfriend. With huge plans to propose tonight he isn’t as calm, cool and collective as you would expect him to be…

What left a long lasting impression in this twisty play was the dialogue – it was funny and sharp. It felt natural and accessible to the wide age range in the audience. The world of new writing feels like it’s in safe hands with these two!

This magnetising dialogue allowed the two boys to explode on stage with amazing chemistry, high energy and great comedic nuances, they really were a joy to watch.

As mentioned ‘Sniff’ was full of twists and turns with deception at the heart of the play, continuously changing who the audience could trust and whether Alex and Liam could truly ever trust each other. This seemingly really excited the audience, who ended the night with a split of ovation and standing ovation.

My only personal criticism was that there didn’t seem to be a strong enough through-line throughout the whole plot to really allow me to invest in, or care for the characters. There was clear attempts through the use of the two characters childhood memories. However, they didn’t directly resonated with the story well enough. Additionally, my guest and I were left yearning to see a scene with Alex’s girlfriend – a huge percentage of the play, particularly in the first half where many discussions revolve around this relationship, however we never see or discover much about them as a couple to really invest and root for their relationship.

To conclude ‘Sniff’ is an exciting play with two amazing actor-writers at its heart. With additional plot shaping I think we could see this diamond really take off! I wait in anticipation to see what’s next for these two.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐