*** Everybody has heard of a courtroom drama and any newspaper reporter will tell you that legal battles can be as entertaining as pure theatre.

But how many plays have you seen where the ONLY scene is a courtroom? It may sound like the dullest play ever and leaving work to go and watch a legal battle for 90 minutes doesn't sound like the best fun you can have.

But Man Talk, Woman Talk offered much more than courtroom boredom -- and a whole lot of fun for any witnesses.

One of the best things about the play, written by Nigerian Ola Rotimi, was that it didn't go on too long, unlike many a rambling court case.

The other was that it was ALWAYS funny, again unlike many real life courtroom dramas which either have you on the edge of your seat or on the edge of deep sleep.

Man Talk, Woman Talk, presented by Black Box Performance Workshops, was quite simply raucous.

And it nearly brought the house down from the first minute when the play's two main characters -- college students arguing which of the sexes is the most downtrodden -- bring their slanging match into the auditorium, shouting at each other across rows of people in the audience.

The young pair, admirably played by Berkeley graduates Llewella (Cookie) Rewan and Nadanja Bailey, translate their debate into a courtroom wrangle, with judge Andre Simons frequently overcome by double-entendres and counsellor Patricia Pogson trying to maintain the dignity of the court.

It all ends in a hilarious finale, in which the giant scales of justice are brought to the front of the stage with the audience acting as jurors and casting the final votes in the ultimate poll of which sex really has been the most hard done to.

Of course the counsellor has decided to side with the women. And the judge, far from being the objective referee, tries to rig the count so the men win the day.

"All those in favour of the young man's argument, raise your arms,'' he tells the audience. "That's right both arms.'' Then of course it's: "All those in favour of the young lady's argument, raise your.... legs!'' The show ends in farce with both the judge and counsellor Pogson, President of Black Box, each trying to weigh down their own side of the scales of justice by ripping off their clothes and loading them on, to win the vote.

There's no way the tribunal can reach a verdict and of course there is no winner. No courtroom in the world can settle the battle of the sexes -- but watching one try gave us a lot of laughs.

Neil Roberts THREATRE REVIEW REV