THE Royal Shakespeare Company seems to have struck a rich vein of gold in its current Jacobethan season at The Swan in Stratford.

After the critical successes of the Eastward Ho! and The Roman Actor, and to a lesser extent Edward III, the company has unearthed another nugget in The Island Princess by John Fletcher.

The play, which has not been performed in its original version for more than 370 years, is exotically set in the "spice islands" of Indonesia, and revolves around Princess Quisara, the enchanting Sasha Behar, and the five men who compete for her love.

The pantomimic plot is a framework on which to hang arguments about colonialism, religion and the power of love, but it is all done with great gusto and good humour. The cast works selflessly for each other, and even double up as part of the excellent onstage orchestra when not acting. The audience particularly enjoyed Joe Dixon's comic turn as the bellicose King of Bakam.

This Swan season is turning out to be a triumph for RSC Associate Director Greg Doran, one of the leading candidates to take over from Adrian Noble as Artistic Director.

Review by Mark Jessop.