Oxford Street - TNT

Though the plot is as flimsy as a worn-out vest top, Levi David Addai's short, highly enjoyable new play is bursting with lively dialect and cheeky backchat. Designer Soutra Gilmour has transformed the intimate space into the busy frontage, store room and security office of a fictional Oxford Street sports shop where the audience perches on shiny white plastic stools. It's the run up to Christmas and, even though they are graduates, part-time security guard Kofi (who wants to be a journalist) and shop assistant Loraina (who has ambitions to be a singer) are still earning their money in dead-end jobs they'd rather not be doing. There are excellent performances all round — including Kristian Kiehling as an inscrutable Polish loss-prevention officer and Cyril Nri as his Ghanaian old-timer boss — and Ashley Walters' Darrell exudes shifty, bad boy charm from the moment he turns up for work. Yet despite the jaunty dialogue, ultimately the picture Addai paints for today's multicultural youth is a dispiriting one of limited opportunity and frustrated aspiration.
Royal Court Theatre Upstairs, Sloane Square, SW1 (020-7565 5000). Until May 31. £15 (£10 on Mondays)