(Image: Supplied)
A hard-hitting play exploring masculinity, violence and social division is returning to Scottish stages more than 20 years after its debut.
Snuff, written by Davey Anderson in 2004, will be staged at Edinburgh’s Traverse Theatre from February 25 to 27, 2027, before moving to Glasgow’s Tron Theatre on March 5 and 6.
Snuff. (Image: Supplied)
Produced by Outwith It and directed by Fraser Scott, the play is set in a Glasgow tower block and centres on the reunion of lifelong friends Kevin and Billy.
Their meeting quickly escalates into a confrontation involving paranoia, buried secrets and tensions within a changing community.
Described as “brutally funny, politically charged and deeply compassionate”, the production combines Scottish dialogue with the suspense of a psychological thriller.
It explores how violence and hatred are learned, while examining identity, radicalisation, friendship and the ways fear can shape people's perceptions of the world.
Anderson wrote the first draft in response to reports of prisoner abuse during the Iraq War and racist violence in Glasgow. Revisiting the play more than two decades later, he said some of the issues it addresses had intensified.
Anderson is known for work that confronts difficult social and political themes through portrayals of contemporary Scottish life. Snuff explores the breakdown of a friendship alongside jealousy, resentment and a desire for connection and belonging.
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Fraser Scott, director of Snuff, said: "I am absolutely thrilled to bring Snuff back to audiences in Scotland, over 20 years since its debut.
"It’s a play that shot straight through my spine when I first read it.
"An exploration of violence, the media and hate as learned behaviour, Snuff is a challenging, thrilling story with complicated characters.
"It’s the kind of work that helps us better understand where we are now, and where we might be going next, with no easy answers but lots of space for questions."
Davey Anderson, writer of Snuff, said: "Returning to the play again, twenty-odd years later, I realise that the story is also largely about friendship, or rather a friendship falling apart.
"It’s a human tale of jealousy and resentment, as well as a desperate yearning for connection and sense of belonging.
"That, plus the dark desire to document acts of violence.
"I wrote the first draft in 2004 in response to reports of prisoner abuse in the Iraq War, as well as racist violence here in Glasgow.
"Many things have changed since then, but some of the issues have only intensified."