Smoking Ban by Milo Boyd on 4th August 2014 Smoking Ban is a one-woman show that, in just over an hour, offers a sympathetic, funny and compellingly real look at the mucky heart of the tobacco industry. A fingertip-to-toe actress, willing to bare all and unafraid to distort her Australian accent first into an American drawl and then various humorous British imitations. Slipping through the curtains and into the shoes of a tobacco lobbyist is Carroll, a peppy American sporting a red dress, lipstick and plenty of sarcasm. With a welcoming smile Carroll gesticulates across the stage and fixes us with her ‘come hither’ eyes. As discerning adults the decision to smoke may well be our hands, but as critics of Carroll, we are putty. The speech ends and reality begins. With the veneer of her work life put to one side, the audience is allowed into the troubled mind of a woman sodden with British drizzle and far away from home. Carroll is a professional. She is keen to please and even keener to succeed. But as the smokescreen dissipates, the addict’s headache creeps in and the thrill of over-the-boss’-desk debauchery gets a little lost. Past ghosts start...