BAFTA and Olivier award-winning playwright debbie tucker green’s drama about relationships, power and sex tourism will tour for the first time in a new production from East Midlands theatre company New Perspectives. trade is set on a Caribbean island and tells the story of three women, each distinct from the others. As the sun beats down, the drinks are poured for tourists and men flitter in and out of the picture, their three very different stories emerge. On the surface, they have little in common: the youngest is visiting for the first time, another lives here permanently and the last woman is a regular visitor. But despite their apparent differences, it gradually becomes clear their lives are all shaped by the same thing: transactions.
debbie tucker green’s play premiered in 2005 as part of the Royal Shakespeare Company’s New Work festival. Theatre critic Lyn Gardner described it as “short, sharp and pungent theatre”, noting that “no playwright makes you sit up and listen like debbie tucker green”. Known for her distinctive use of dialogue, tucker green has a well-earned reputation as one of the UK’s leading playwrights. trade is a captivating example of the playwright’s finesse with language when creating unique and memorable characters. While the story looks at three clearly distinguishable individuals, it also explores the overlaps in their lives and experiences, along with the bonds shared by these three black women.
trade is a crisp and clever play visiting 14 venues across the UK as part of a regional tour by New Perspectives. Running at the same time as New Perspectives’ London transfer of The Fishermen, an adaptation of the Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel by Chigozie Obioma, it is also directed by Artistic Director Jack McNamara.
Jack McNamara said, “debbie tucker green’s language is like nothing else. She is a writer in total command of her craft. Just being in the room with three actresses negotiating this incredible text is an electric experience. We are honoured that debbie has trusted us to take this work on its first tour and excited to think that so many people across the country will hear this voice for the very first time.”
