Father Figure - Junkies at the Albany Theatre

(L to R Langley Howard and Nigel Fairs as Adam and Mike. Photo Nick Bamford)

Junkies, performed at the Albany Theatre, 10 October 2025. Written and Directed by Nick Bamford.

Review by David Court.

Within the electronic confines of a gay dating site, a fledgling relationship takes flight between Mike — a confident, self-assured man of means — and Adam, a younger yet deeply troubled soul long accustomed to the transient world of online hookups. What begins as a casual connection between strangers soon evolves into something more profound.

It’s a simple enough set-up: one stage, two actors, and every moment shared between them. With such an intimate premise, the casting becomes everything — and here, writer-director Bamford has chosen perfectly. Both Langley Howard and Nigel Fairs are a revelation, inhabiting their roles with an intensity that never once falters.

Howard gives an exceptional performance as Adam, a man teetering on the edge, caught in the throes of addiction. His portrayal captures both the guarded defensiveness of someone long bruised by life and the raw vulnerability of a person desperate for connection. Deprived of the fatherly guidance lost to him years ago, Adam instinctively looks to Mike for the stability and care he has never known.

(L to R Langley Howard and Nigel Fairs as Adam and Mike. Photo Nick Bamford)

Mike (played with quiet authority and deep compassion by Nigel Fairs) is a man still reckoning with the consequences of a late-in-life revelation — his acceptance of his sexuality, which cost him his marriage and family. In Adam, he finds not only a lover but a kind of surrogate son, someone through whom he can perhaps make peace with his past.

Junkies is, at its heart, a love story — but one that sidesteps cliché. It’s a study of two lost souls drawn together by desire and dependency, who discover, through one another, both the best and worst of themselves. What begins as a transactional relationship, grounded in lust and need, gradually deepens into something far more complex and redemptive.

As the play unfolds, Bamford deftly shifts the emotional balance. At first, Mike appears to hold the upper hand — the older, wiser figure, perhaps even a little patronising towards his damaged young lover. Yet a shocking twist, pulled straight from the headlines, upends that equilibrium and forces both men to confront uncomfortable truths. Mike, it turns out, is no less addicted — just to something different. Both characters must learn, painfully, that love and salvation rarely come in the forms we expect.

Junkies is a gripping and courageous piece of theatre — honest, witty, and unflinching in its portrayal of age-gap relationships, queer identity, and emotional dependency. The chemistry between Howard and Fairs is electric; their performances hold the audience spellbound from beginning to end.

Highly recommended — raw, intimate, and beautifully performed. Keep an eye out for future performances; this is one production that lingers long after the curtain falls.

For more information on Junkies, are where you can see the play next click here. For information on the Albany Theatre, click here.