Fame game falls flat

Marlon Brando's Corset by Guy Jones purports to be a study of how the modern obsession with fame prostitutes us all, but it's as shallow and pretentious as those it is parodying.

Les Dennis, as a TV soap writer, does his best, but Ed Curtis's direction is so inept that the cast of six don't know whether they're in high drama or low farce as the story develops into a wholly unbelievable murder mystery.

The rather neat title comes from a line in the script that Curtis deleted - if only he had cut many more.

Food
Traverse, Edinburgh
***

In Food, Frank Byrne is a celebrity chef who has just been awarded a third Michelin star and is determined to keep it at all costs.

Sean Campion, in a riveting central performance, conveys the macho energy, obsession and ego of Frank, while the sharp script and eloquent physical vignettes by the cast of five skilfully evoke the rigid regimes and heirarchies of professional kitchens and the sheer hard labour involved in serving haute cuisine to increasingly demanding diners.

Imaginary Body's devised play by Joel Horwood and Christopher Heimann neither ridicules foodies nor judges a man prepared to lose his wife, children and health to keep that all-important third star.

But Food is artful rather than imaginative and ultimately, despite gripping performances, we don't care about Frank as much as we should as he descends into a paranoid nightmare.

Marlon Brando's Corset until 28 August (0131 556 6550)

Food until 27 August (0131 228 1404)

Marlon Brando's Corset
Pleasance, Edinburgh