American Trade *** TNT

American Tarell Alvin McCraney’s The Brothers Size was one of the highlights of the theatregoing year in 2007.

A simply staged and sensitive exploration of brotherhood, it signalled the arrival of a new and original voice on the London stage. Then came another emotionally charged piece (In the Red and Brown Water) before McCraney changed tactics with the flamboyantly entertaining but loosely structured Wig Out!

American Trade, his new work as Playwright in Residence with the Royal Shakespeare Company, is as short as his breakthrough play, but - despite vivacity, pace and vivid performances - this relentless parade of characters on the make lacks substance.

Inspired by Restoration comedy and fed by McCraney’s own observations during his time over here, it follows mixed-race hustler Pharus from New York to London where he flees to escape the unwanted attentions of record mogul Jules.

Taken under the wing of his white great aunt (Sheila Reid) - who runs a PR agency but wants to expand into the world of modelling - he recruits his own ragbag of multiracial hookers, putting his cousin’s nose out of joint in the process as they vie to inherit the business.

McCraney makes the point that people aren’t always what they seem to be – and there’s intermittent wit as well as the occasional hint of a poetic voice in the dialogue. But although Tunji Kasim’s Pharus radiates enough charm to explain his appeal to both sexes, Jamie Lloyd’s colour-block production feels more like an assault than an amusing evening out and it’s ironic that McCraney previously found more fruitful inspiration in the deprived, muddy backwaters of Louisiana than he has in the gaudy excesses of the metropolis.

Hampstead, Eton Avenue, NW3 3EU (020 7722 9301) Tube: Swiss Cottage hampsteadtheatre.com Until 18th June (£22-£29)