IN an inventory of the blessings bestowed on the theatre world by the RSC, the commitment to new works must rank close to the top.

It is hard to imagine a project like Trade reaching a mainstream audience without the RSC's patronage, and that would be a great pity because it is a vibrant, original and thrilling piece of theatre which challenges many of our assumptions about what is a 'play'.

Three women meet on a beach, a Caribbean beach we assume though it is never openly stated. In this production all three are black, though two of them, for the most part, play white English women, one an Essex-girl type, the other from the apparently conventional, well-spoken middle class. The third is a local girl.

The theme is sex tourism and the three are united by a man. To the two visitors he is part of their holiday fun, though the older one (Tanya Moodie) believes herself to have a relationship with him. Essex Girl (Nadine Marshall) just wants the fun but the local (Lorna Brown) believes him to be her boyfriend.

The relationships and the arguments are unravelled by writer Debbie Tucker Green in a form of rhythmic, poetic language which at times feels like a libretto without the music and carries the musical cadences of the Caribbean voice. All three actors gave memorable performances, sustaining a frenetic pace for 45 minutes, leaving behind many vivid impressions and much to consider.

Trade ran for four days last week as part of the New Work Festival.

Review by STEVE EVANS