Edinburgh Fringe Festival
East Coast Chicken Supper/Snuff
Traverse
In a neat flat in a small Fife town, three young men are having an argument. Gibb (Garry Collins), has just returned after an unexplained sojourn in London and his flatmates Fred and Stew (Paul Rattray and Paul Blair) are needling him about leaving them to "carry on the business".
Many words are spoken but few of consequence, and nothing much happens. And that pretty much sums up Martin J Taylor's first full-length play, directed by fellow Scotsman Richard (Victor Meldrew) Wilson.
The business - and a lucrative one at that - Fred and Stew are referring to is cocaine dealing on a council estate. The three spend most of the evening getting off their faces on whisky, marijuana and cocaine, while food-obsessed Fred cooks up a chicken stir-fry, which he lovingly describes in detail.
When local hardman Malone (Malcolm Shields) enters the flat, we expect matters to heat up. But, no, it's just more chat about how he has been sent to run them out of town - but only after sampling the delicious stir-fry. It sounds about as menacing as your auntie making a cup of tea.
It's a shame that Wilson - normally a master interpreter of new writers' work - hasn't been able to lift this wordy, repetitive piece from the page, as Taylor has flashes of witty dialogue and draws colourful characters.
But the lack of plot means the play is just blokes blathering on - and Baddiel and Skinner have cornered the market.
Snuff, by young Scottish writer/director Davey Anderson, is, by contrast, full of action. It's a two-hander set in a grimy tower-block flat in Glasgow, where the paranoid and increasingly disturbed Kevin (Brian Ferguson) rails against asylum seekers, authority figures and just about anyone who annoys him.
He's a fan of snuff movies and invites his pal Billy (Steven Ritchie) to take part in the home video he is making. The language is lacerating and the performances terrifying, even if the nihilistic message is ultimately unconvincing.
East Coast Chicken Supper until 28 August; Snuff until Sunday. Information: 0131 228 1404; www.traverse.co.uk
