The Whisky Taster

Barney and Nicola are advertising wonder kids

They win accounts with wit, charm and a secret weapon - Barney's ability to feel, smell and taste colours, and to translate these sensations into words

Lately Barney has been finding things far too colourful and wishes his full throttle London life was more black and white, but Nicola is hell bent on winning accounts at all costs

When the two hire an old Scottish Whisky Taster to help them with a new campaign, the enigmatic and mysterious figure slows the Londoners to a stop with his strange wisdom, just as the deadline looms

This play explores perception, sensitivity and feeling through the neurological condition synesthesia

Whilst the characters thrive on the surface with witty banter and accomplished advertising pitches, their real lives threaten to intrude with a deeper, darker vein of seriousness and potential despair

When every sensation can be turned into a marketable, profitable brand, they start to lose sight of the real value of experience

"A brilliantly pacey and culturally penetrating new comedy ... Part of the great pleasure of the piece lies in the way the superb cast fly with dialogue that has its ear to the future. By these means and metaphors, the very talented author manages to pack in unpretentiously many of our current preoccupations" ~ Paul Taylor, Independent

"The Whisky Taster at the Bush Theatre displays a superb gift for comic dialogue by playwright James Graham. It is charming, fun, sad and original, and has much to say about the times in which we live" ~ Charles Spencer, Daily Telegraph