Entering the Aces dress circle bar at His Majesty’s was a blessing on this hot day. That was not the only good thing, the show “You and Me” was terrific.

We started with a couple of actors performing a reading exercise in a dead room, a quiet recording studio with nothing to distract you from the dialogue.

The dialogue was intense, their subject is the topical issue of men predatory behaviour and workplace sexual harassment. Men are good man, it is how they see themselves, full of goodwill and genuinely honest and benevolent.

Tom, confronted by his wife Naomi regarding his potential suspension from work, which she did not know about, immediately denies strongly. 

Faced with the recall of various facts, he admits little by little one wrongful behaviour after another and a very disputable moral flexibility. 

Tom’s answers to that forensic examination are life can be complicated, relationships are fluid and filled with many grey areas which can make it hard to define “right” or “wrong”. As Tom sees it, lies or omissions were to protect her. Excuses and explanations lead to attacks or accusations as the last line of defence.

The succession of events is subtle and cleverly set up, nothing is revealed too early and the escalation makes you wonder what’s next, what is still being kept from you.

Where that show brings a major difference, is that the actors have decided, in order to better understand each other’s character, to swap roles.

As a result, we hear the words spoken from the other person and the other gender, which somehow brings them to another level, enhanced, and resonating more strongly. Common lines that you have heard before in couple’s arguments turn out to be different, more powerful and very noticeable. 

The actors are very convincing in each other’s roles, there is nothing odd about it, just the compelling evidence of some distorted mental perceptions ignored too often and where the responsibility lies.

This show despite its dark and murky character is delightful, confronting, emotionally charged and also funny, a master piece.