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A CurtainUp 
London Review
London ReviewAmerican Trade
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I've has enough "Yes We Can" to know when I'm being set up. — Valentina |
Written as a response to the kind of Restoration comedy which features the bed hopping of aristocratic rakes American Trade serves to expose the shallow inadequacy of the genre for anything other than weak sexual titillation. Indeed the prospect of seeing Geoffrey Freshwater as Lord Fairway in a turquoise posing pouch is not one designed to draw in the aesthetic loving crowds of Swiss Cottage.
The actors do their best: Tunji Kasim looks very attractive as Pharus the hustler from the United States who comes over to London to escape crime boss Jules (Clarence Smith) and his henchman Loni (David Carr). Debbie Korley pops up all over the place as Girl Wonder and as the hectoring, dominatrix air stewardess whose job it is to stop passengers gaining membership of the mile high club. Veteran RSC actor Sheila Reid is Pharus' Great Aunt Marian in London whose business interests are euphemistically called modelling. I did like Dharmesh Patel's Ragiv, Asian wheeler dealer who falls foul of British immigration or the UK Border Agency which the author amusingly calls Border Patrol!
The design is Manga comic book style and the costumes are bright, colourful, risqué and often dispensed with. Lighting too is bright and extreme. At one point Simone Saunders as Sylvia appears in an outfit which makes her look like a giant bee - it is a spectacular costume but other than reminding us what celebrities will do for publicity, loses its sting.
Thankfully this play has a very, very short run and is best forgotten.
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| American Trade
By Tarell Alvin McCraney Directed by Jamie Lloyd With: Adam Burton, David Carr, Geoffrey Freshwater, Gruffudd Glyn, Tunji Kasim, Debbie Korley, Dharmesh PaTEL, Sheila Reid, David Rubin, Sophie Russell, Simone Saunders, Clarence Smith, James Traherne, James Tucker, Larrington Walker, Kirsty Woodward, Hannah Young, Samantha Young Design: Soutra Gilmour Lighting: Neil Austin Music and Sound: Ben and Max Ringham Movement: Ann Yee Running time: One hour 30 minutes without an interval Box Office: 020 7722 9301 Booking to 18th June 2011 Reviewed by Lizzie Loveridge based on 18th May 2011 performance at Hampstead Theatre, Eton Avenue, London NW3 3EU (Tube: Swiss Cottage) |
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