It's a party of two

When Mark Setlock and Becky Mode worked at mid-1990s New York 'it' restaurant Bouley, they found themselves privy to an alternate universe neither had dreamed existed.

'The clientele was like a freak show,' Mode says. 'At 6pm the helmet-heads would come in: 400-year-old, crusty, Upper East Side ladies who wanted their meat cut up.

'At 8pm, it would be the A-list: [former New York City mayor Rudolph] Giuliani, Woody Allen. And at 10pm it would be supermodels, none of whom would eat anything. Mark has this incredible facility for mimicry and we'd impersonate all these dreadful people for our friends.'

Mode and Setlock were out-of-work actors, desperate for whatever jobs they could get. Setlock, in particular, had nightmares about 12-hour days manning the reservation lines: the phone didn't stop ringing, he says, the atmosphere was poison and people would go to any lengths to get a booking.

One day, the answer struck Mode in the face. Write a one-man play for Setlock in which he plays a struggling actor (Sam) answering phones but also provides the screaming voices of the rich and famous on the other end.

The result, Fully Committed (NY-speak for fully booked), was an instant hit in New York, went on to tour America and this week transfers to the West End, having wowed audiences at Southwark's Menier Chocolate Factory.

The restaurant trade, from Manhattan's social X-rays who 'eat' to be seen to the celebrities who have The Ivy on speed dial, is not known for its modesty and humility, and Fully Committed has great fun sending up both New York's hysterically wealthy and the industry's hysterical egotism.

'My favourite character is Mrs Zebag,' Setlock says. 'She's this loud, demanding, manic woman who, when she calls to confirm her reservation and we say we can't find it, behaves as though it's the end of her life.'

During the performance, Naomi Campbell's agent keeps ringing to change the arrangements, at one point demanding soft lighting and a vegan menu for 15. But some of the requests Setlock received were considered too outrageous to feature in the play.

'The Queen of Thailand called once and demanded her own toilet,' he says. 'We only had one and simply couldn't do it. But people didn't believe the story so we had to take it out.'