Brutal, blistering new play ‘Snuff’ was the runaway success of the 2005 Arches Theatre Festival, with Glasgow audiences queuing up for tickets even after the run had sold out and Scotland’s theatre critics calling out for extended runs and wider exposure. Grimly humorous and chillingly contemporary, ‘Snuff’ seemed to tap in to a reawakened political consciousness in Scottish theatre, an awareness which snowballed around the country in the months leading up to the G8 summit.

‘Snuff’ went on to have a sell out run at the Traverse Theatre’s 2005 Festival Fringe season, garnering even more critical acclaim, and has now been picked up by the National Theatre of Scotland as one of its first ‘Unmissable’ productions.

Focussing in on the social and political displacement of Kevin and Billy, two childhood friends from a housing scheme in a city like Glasgow, Snuff presents a relentless commentary on a particular Scottish masculinity in crisis. Increasingly fragmented, paranoid and potentially dangerous, Kevin has barricaded himself into his flat, documenting the world around him obsessively onto video. Billy, inheriting Scottish Protestant tribal loyalties, followed his instincts into the Army and returns from a tour of Iraq not quite the conquering hero.

"Sometimes we took wan of the guys for a walk, you know? Wan of the Iraqis. We took them to wan of the trucks. We called it the disco truck."

Using live video feed and innovative installation design as well as ferociously pitched performances, Anderson's unflinching production pulls the audience into the protagonists, nightmarishly real milieu where play-violence, mistrust and fear have become standard currency between even the closest of friends. The taut script holds governmental foreign and immigration policy and an age of sensationalist media up to scrutiny, as larger world events implode in living rooms all over the country and impact forcibly on to the individual.

‘Snuff’ is written and directed by Davey Anderson, one of the most exciting young talents in Scottish theatre today. Davey has recently been appointed as the National Theatre of Scotland's first Director in Residence and his original script for Snuff won him the prestigious Arches Award for Stage Directors in 2005.

Snuff is presented by Arches Theatre Company and National Theatre of Scotland.

‘Snuff’, which is recommended for 14 years and over, can be seen at Lossiemouth High School on Saturday 11 November at 7.30 pm (running time 1 hour). Tickets are £8 full, £6 concession and £4 for pupils, and are available from Lossiemouth High School 01343 812047 or online at www.thebooth.co.uk