Theatre:Like a Good Lover, "He Said, She Said" Builds steam as it goes along

Oftentimes, specially in the Jamaican context, that which seems the easiest reach is hardest to grasp; the "obvious" topics, like sex and the contradictions between the sexes, are often played so cheaply as to do a disservice to the issue

Happily for this writer, and the rest of the audience, the new Elllis International revue "He Said, She Said" has a strong grasp to enable its broad reach.

Against a minimalist backdrop, the opening number "Too Much Sex" unfolded and ended with not too much promise for a great evening. Set to the tune of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons'  "Sherry" it had the  workmanlike feel of an awkward tryst, a necessary preliminary endured before one " gets down to business".

But like any good lover, the players and the script certainly gathered steam, becoming collectively more self-assured as the session wore on.

It hit its first stride in a skit we'll call "Come When I Come Back". Its " the morning after" and a young woman raises the issue of her man's apparent lack of stamina (though he does get her to claim that she enjoyed it), which leads to protests, reasoning, and perhaps a little of the unexpected. When, out of frustration, the hapless man blurts out "Yu too hard!!" The woman delivers what must be the comeback of the night:"Well at least ONE of us is!"

There's  no shortage of big laughs but the play delivers its first of two "money shots" (yes, we're using term) just before the interval. Inside a Golden Age Home two elderly women take their turn (the men having previously taken the stage) at shredding myths about sex in old age and poking fun at both men and the type of Bible-toting, holier than thou church ladies that "seem" uninterested in ribaldry. Its the best constructed skit of the night (you have to listen right up to the punch line).

The second comes at the end, with a dual set-up, indicative of the title. On one side, a guy is holding forth to his 'bredren' about his devastating sexual performance on a particular girl, while on the other side, said girl is destroying boasts while dishing to her girlfriends. Its not by any means an original construct, but its the execution that counts, and the protagonists, Tesfa Edwards and Kathy Grant, make it count through spot-on timing and impassioned deliveries.

Several of the skits in the second half attempt to examine the fractious issue of how men relate to men. The best of these is "2Guys at the Gym",  in which two longtime friends compare notes on personal preferences and wonder how is it that their respective spouses don't understand them as well as they understand each other. Its an issue and a perspective that don't often make their way onto the Jamaican stage, but should.

Every revue depends on music, and the producers' selections, whether accompanying or between skits, are certainly commendable. In addition to the previously mentioned, there are adaptations of the Ffolkes Brothers classic "Oh Carolina" (3 guesses as to which part of the female anatomy that's used in conjunction with), and Peter Tosh's enduring cover of Chuck Berry's "Johnny B Goode".

And then, there is "I'll Vento". Working in the vein of DJ Buccaneer's "Skettel Concerto" the operatic number ("Soave al Il Vento" from Mozart's Cosi Fan Tuute)) is used in service of arguably the night's most hilarious solo skit, complete with the obligatory ghetto malapropisms and dropped consonants.

Which brings us to the final important aspect of the play. The limited and often ruthlessly efficient sexual vocabulary of many contemporary Jamaican men ( amplified in the male-dominated dancehall field) is countered and indeed supplemented by more open discourse, whether its the young man proudly declaring that his masculinity is not compromised by buying "a six-pack of Stayfree maxis with wings" for his girl, the bored and lusty housewife longing for the attention of the hunky gardener next door, or the aforementioned bromance at the gym. That the work has much more on its mind than "gettin' some" and playing for cheap laughs is impressively evident.

But fear not, of laughs there are plenty, and there's also more than enough sexual situations and references to go around. He Said She Said may at times come off rude, but it definitely also knows how to mind its manners.

Satisfaction guaranteed.