The Truman Capote Talk Show

Truman Capote may have died in 1984, but he's everywhere these days.

Thanks to not one but two Hollywood movies (the Oscar-winning Capote and the forthcoming Infamous), the diminutive celebrity writer has managed to become 'hot' from beyond the grave.

Bob Kingdom first performed his Truman Capote Talk Show at the Edinburgh Fringe in 1994, and following stints in London and New York he's now taking it on a farewell tour.

While Capote's real life experiences on talk shows were inebriated embarrassments, he's on fabulous form here with the stage to himself.

In typically flamboyant style, he explains the four stages of celebrity: 1. Who is Truman Capote?, 2. Get me Truman Capote, 3. Get me someone like Truman Capote and 4. (see 1.) Ironically, the appeal of his unique character combined with the status of his two best-known works (the beloved Breakfast at Tiffany's and the seminal In Cold Blood) have given him a second stab at stage three.

Capote's trademark high-pitched drawl, slight lisp and ear-tugging mannerism are all present and correct in Kingdom's affectionate portrayal, but it's a subtle characterisation that never detracts from what is a fascinating life story.

Collections of bon mots are delivered to the audience beautifully gift-wrapped, and our delight genuinely feels as though it's feeding Capote's insatiable appetite for attention and applause.

While the directors of the two movies both opted to focus on the turbulent years the writer spent researching and writing In Cold Blood, cutting back only occasionally to the social whirl of his time in New York, here we're permitted to savour tales of 'parties and launches and openings and closings' with the unashamed curiosity of a gossip magazine devotee.

Regardless of whether you've read the books, seen the films or know the story, this is surely the next best thing to an audience with the man himself.