Neil Monaghan's previous play, Eye Contact, was a study of lap-dancing clubs featuring ex-Big Breakfast presenter Kelly Brook. It enabled him to attend every opening in town - and to make the capital's insipid, canape crowd the subject of his current play.
It's a funny topic to tackle in Scarborough. Monaghan's theme is the "trendy bollocks" that obsesses London's A-list set. But it is difficult to tell if he means to satirise the scene, or is rather seduced by it.
We are introduced to JJ, a soulless socialite who sleeps with data-transfer tycoon Skelton for cash, and with her beefy boyfriend Leo so that she can slip him insider-trading information extracted from her client's pillow-talk. JJ's best friend Amber is a frustrated TV producer who sleeps with Leo while JJ is busy with Skelton. And Barclay is a Mancunian eco-warrior in a rancid hat who is frustrated by JJ's readiness to sleep with everybody except him.
Data transfer and insider dealing is not a recipe for ravishing visual spectacle, and you frequently find yourself peering at actors who are themselves peering at computer screens.
Director Edward Kemp compounds the problem with an ultra-slick piece of designer theatre, delivering performances of such sang-froid that, if the characters became any cooler, they would stick to the floor. As references to "kickin' drinking clubs down Farringdon way" flew over the heads of the audience, it was hard to be sure where the play was coming from - although Patrick Marber's out-tray would be one guess.
· Until November 9. Box office: 01723 370541.
