88. American Trade - RSC at the Hampstead Theatre

American Trade was the third and final instalment of the RSC’s Hampstead residency and sadly I can’t quite shake the feeling that it’s lucky the long ensemble had New York to head off to as it would have been a shame to end such a marvellous tenure with a disappointing, uncelebrated and geographically peripheral end. As unfortunately American Trade suffered from the same problem as its two predecessors – interesting productions, strong performances but weak writing. Though not awful - like the other two plays, I thought there was great potential here but it may have needed longer to develop.