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SMOKE + You Are Loved panel

 
Richard Beck Review by Richard Beck 3 Published: 23 Apr 2026 Omnibus Theatre Show Dates: 21 Apr 2026-25 Apr 2026

For those who enjoy a play open to multiple interpretations, the otherwise simple story of SMOKE, directed by Campbell X at the Omnibus Theatre, Clapham, allows for ample speculation.

Is this world real or a fantasy? You decide.

The publicity tells us that writer/performer Alexis Gregory makes a return to the stage with “his most daring and uncompromising work to date, confronting the hardest issues currently facing the queer community, head-on.” Maybe. The event consists of his performance and a post-show discussion with a panel of contributors in partnership with the LGBTQ+ non-profit organisation You Are Loved, who explore the show’s themes.

Most of that discussion on this night focused on the issue of chemsex, which is certainly an important element of the play and may be interpreted as a drug-induced delusion. Wider issues of access to sexual health information and the nature of relationships were also considered. That session is an optional extra once the play is over.

The casual, conversational opening of SMOKE is heightened in its laid-back style by the interesting directorial decision to run the whole play with the house lights on full. It creates an up-close storytelling atmosphere, enhanced by Gregory’s walks up and down the aisle, but detracts from the sense of theatre, performance and mystery. The rather abrupt and fleeting last scene is the only exception to this.

Alex reveals that he has received an Instagram DM from his boyfriend, who has been dead for two years. He shows it to people in the front few rows to establish its authenticity. But in the world of social media messaging, anything is possible. Is it really a new message, one that has just popped up from the past, or part of a phantasmagorical world in which he struggles to come to terms with his partner’s death in a psychotic malaise? You decide. These optional interpretations run through the entire play: scenes in the café, which have some delightful comic moments; visits to his boyfriend’s mother; encounters with the man whom he believes to be the person who sent him the message. Is this world real or a fantasy?

SMOKE, we are told, draws on Gregory’s “particularly brutal experience of an online hack and several years observing addiction and the mental health crises within the LGBTQ+ community, particularly with many young gay men in this technological age.” As such, it is to be respected as a worthy solo performance and deeply personal testimony about important issues.

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The Blurb:

A new queer thriller savage comedy from Alexis Gregory and Campbell X, plus panel hosted by LGBTQ+ org You Are Loved

SMOKE Created and performed by Alexis Gregory Directed by Campbell X+You Are Loved panel.Alex wakes one morning to a new message on Insta from his boyfriend Ben. But Ben died two years ago. What appears to be an everyday hack soon turns into something else as Alex’s life spirals out of control. SMOKE is the newest play from acclaimed queer theatre-maker Alexis Gregory (Riot Act) whose work has appeared in the West End, across London, the UK, and internationally, and is directed by the award-winning filmmaker Campbell X (Stud Life, Low Rider).Raw, and stripped back, the conversational SMOKE is a hard-hitting, savage comic-thriller about another dead gay guy on social media, drugs, the Demon Twink in Starbucks, and Mariah Carey. Non-profit organisation You Are Loved (YAL), created in response to disproportionately high rates of premature deaths from suicide and drugs in the LGBTQ+ community, focuses on addressing the root causes, including stigma, shame and loneliness. Post each SMOKE performance, YAL will host a specially curated forty-five minute panel, unique to each town and city on the tour, involving local LGBTQ+ figures, exploring how SMOKE’s themes crossover with YAL’s work, in mobilising the community to get better at talking, sharing and supporting each other. SMOKE and You Are Loved tour in a unique partnership combining culture and community, presenting two interlinked events for audiences.April 21st Panel discussion focus: The role of CommunityTim Spoor OBE, Co-founder & CEO, QueerwellConnor Minney, Founder, GaynsOwain Evans, Founder, Big Gay Out (BGO)Samuel Douek, Founder & CEO, HOWL WorldwideApril 22nd Panel discussion focus: Chemsex & ConnectionSimon Blake, CEO, StonewallBen Kaye, Chemsex Lead, Researcher, & Harm Reduction Advocate, CGLIgnacio Labayen de Inza, Founder & CEO, Controlling ChemsexDr Mauricio Alvarez, Clinical Psychologist, ALL EAST Sexual HealthApril 23rd Panel discussion focus: Intersecting Minority IdentitiesFemi Otitoju, Founder of Challenge Training & Chair of QueerwellGiulio Spatola, Mr Gay World (2025)Pat Caldwell, Antidote Recovery Worker, London FriendAndrew Akuruka, Gay Men’s Mental Health AdvocateApril 24th Panel discussion focus: Self Worth and AgeingDr Paul Taylor-Pritt. Coach, Activist & AuthorMarc Thompson, Lead Commissioner of the London HIV ProgrammeSimon Blake, Chief Executive, StonewallJake O’Dwyer, Head of Fundraising & Communications, SwitchboardApril 25th (matinee) Panel discussion focus: The role of ShameJaron Soh, Co-founder & CEO, VodaRichard Angell, Chief Executive, Terrence Higgins Trust (THT)Helen Corkin, Sexual Health & HIV Lead, UKHSADel Beach-Campbell, Founder of Delversity & Chemsex Programme Lead at Survivors UKApril 25th (evening) Panel discussion focus: Connection vs Loneliness Monty Moncrieff MBE, Chief Executive, London FriendDaniel O’Shaughnessy, Nutritionist & AuthorDr Alessandro Tridico, Sen Lecturer in Psychology & President of Impulse LondonRosie Wilby, Comedian, Author & BroadcasterSMOKE image by Tyler Kelly.Smoke is funded by Arts Council England