Review: F.U.D.S. from Reconnect Theatres at Edinburgh Festival Fringe 2025
- Lisa in the theatre
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
Original play F.U.D.S. (formerly known as Doped) premiered at the 2024 Edinburgh Fringe. Reconnect Theatres bring it back to the festival for 2025 with new director and producer Pete Sneddon at the helm.
F.U.D.S. ★★★☆☆
Review: 11 August 2025 | Gilded Balloon Patter House at Edinburgh Festival Fringe
What happens to disadvantaged young men left to fend for themselves at the edge of their communities? F.U.D.S is the story of three stoner friends and their conflicting worldviews. It's welcome new writing from Scottish theatre company Reconnect and writers Sam Stuart Fraser, Sean Fullwood and director Pete Sneddon, that shines a light on those struggling in the shadows of society.
Tinny (Sam Stuart Fraser) sits in his dreary flat, lazily lounging on a deckchair, game controller in hand. Dulled by all the drugs he partakes of, he has all but given up on life but still has some sharp observations to share on everything from the creation of clocks to the care of guide dogs. Recovering addict pal Faolan (Matthew Boyle) has a 9-to-5 job and is trying to climb his way out of the stoner life - but his motivations aren't always understood by his buddies.
Buzz (Darryl Mair) is a loose canon, a temperamental, overbearing, paranoid drug dealer. He's convinced that "the man" is watching them and is the root of all their troubles. When Buzz lets slip that he's hidden a huge stash of drug money in a less than secure location, their already precarious friendship is pushed to the limit.
F.U.D.S. is first and foremost a Scottish comedy; the dialogue is authentic and extreme. These are characters who use the C-word as a term of affection and the F-word as punctuation. As the three boys debate their affairs, it's like being a fly-on-the-wall of a dingy, tension-filled, sometimes hilarious, often terrifying drug den. Imagine if Trainspotting were a sitcom and Jack and Victor from Still Game were stoners. We peek into their living room and listen to their conversations.
The character of Tinny is brilliantly judged and superbly acted by Sam Stuart Fraser, but Faolan, on the contrary, feels underdeveloped. Most of the laughs come in the first 15 minutes of the play but there are some inspired and playful psychedelic music cues throughout. The comedy, when it hits, is very funny.
But underneath the veil of comedy lingers a sadness. Drug addicts, alcoholics and drug dealers - people with nothing, no family and no hope like these three friends - can be caught in a downward spiral of plummeting mental health and despair.
F.U.D.S is trying to say something profound, but there is room for more development and more dramatic story here. The play currently feels unbalanced and a little unfinished, but is still a wild and enjoyable ride.
Lots of potential from a talented creative team. ★★★☆☆
F.U.D.S. plays at the Gilded Balloon Patter House at Edinburgh Festival Fringe until Monday 25th August 2025.
Comments