Theatre review: Who’s Dorian Gray? Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club (Venue 164), Edinburgh

Debuting Fringe company Empty Photo Theatre has crammed in many of the tropes of student theatre – shared accommodation, edgy sexual relations and pulpy shock-horror – and elevated them to a place that clearly and concisely establishes a web of believable characters and relationships, pulling the audience in as it moves into darker territory.

Who’s Dorian Gray?

Laughing Horse @ Edinburgh City Football Club (Venue 164)

Star rating: * * *

It’s set entirely in the flat of former uni friends Dom, Ed and Rich, respectively a typically uncertain everybloke, a seedy but apparently irresistible American gigolo and a wage slave with no apparent ambition or adventure.

Ed is slowly revealed to be the agent provocateur who will fracture their friendships through his pathological and misogynist mistreatment of women, first his ignored one-night stand, Abigail, then Rich’s recently separated sister, Fiona, and finally Rich’s bored and frustrated partner, Jess.

It’s a simple situation played with emotion and humour by a strong cast, and the, perhaps over-the-top, final scene shocks simply because these characters have earned our emotional investment. A strong debut 
that promises much for the future.

• Until 26 August. Today, 11pm.