BACK	ARTS-ENTERTAINMENT - 6

In a reverse of the usual theme, ''Against His Will'' is a drama about a female employer's sexual harassment of a male employee and the latter's decision to seek legal recourse.

The play has been packing in the crowds at Kingston's Little Theatre, Jamaica's leading stage, since it opened in September. Judging from the response to date, the play seems set to set a new box office record.

Against His Will also has proven to be another winner for 30- year-old Jamaican playwright David Heron, whose scripts has made him the most successful writer for the theatre in recent years. Heron's preference for solid dialogue has been welcomed as breath of fresh air by theatre critics, who had frowned on the plethora of so-called ''roots'' productions that have dominated the Jamaican stage for more than a decade.

Roots plays are low-budget slapstick comedies which many Jamaican playwrights turned to in the 1980s when more serious theatre took a back seat. But the monotony of the genre has seen a decline in audience support which has once again opened the doors for work such as Against His Will.

The play surrounds Daniel, a young computer technician recently married, but with a prior reputation as a "ladies man." Realising this, Daniel's boss, Elaine, driven by success and eroticism, stalks him daily with regards to having a fling.

Despite consistently dodging Elaine's advances, Daniel is lured to her home one night to repair her computer. There, he is overcome by excess alcohol and marijuana, and in his account, raped by his boss.

Humiliated, he reluctantly relates his tale to his pregnant wife who disbelieves him, saying he had finally given in to Elaine's advances. Initially, a similar reaction comes from the female attorney Daniel approaches to take his case.

Once the case goes public, Daniel becomes the subject of ridicule by those reluctant to accept the notion that a woman could take advantage of a young, virile man.

While his lawyer proves that Daniel was indeed the victim of sexual abuse, the jury renders a not guilty verdict considering Daniel went to his boss's home well aware of her intentions - and with condoms on his person at that!

Not surprisingly, Against His Will has been the hot topic for theatre-goers and for the public generally. The school of thought among most Jamaicans sujrveyed is that there are few men around who would resist the advances of a seductress but, others, like Heron, believe the growing influence of the woman in the workplace makes for such incidents.

''I tried to focus on female domination in the office, but not necessarily in a sexual way,'' Heron explains. ''There are many female bosses out there who feel they are forced to act like their male counterparts.''

The unusual twist in Against His Will has kept the turnstiles at the Little Theatre clicking over and for Heron, who has written all the top-grossing plays in Jamaica in the last three years, the response has not been surprising. "It's so controversial that everybody who comes to see the play leaves with a different opinion," he says.

Heron's work has given new hope to writers of 'serious plays' in Jamaica. In 1994, he broke ground with the romantic Ecstasy, a Romeo and Juliet-type play that ran for well over a year.

In 1996, he followed up with the socially-conscious Intermission which followed the lives of three friends and their transition from Jamaica's politically turbulent years during the 1970s to the present. Both plays won the Actor Boy Award, the Jamaican version of the Tony Award.

Like many of his colleagues, Heron feels that the roots theatre movement had become exhausted. He sought to inject new blood into Jamaican theatre which had been coming under increasing fire from its critics. The changing face of Jamaican society provided the perfect backdrop for Heron who incorporates the troubles of everyday life into his plays.

"Theatre has a role in life, not just to entertain but to provoke thoughts," he says. "I felt an obligation to give them (fans) something other than a bellyfull of laughs."

Heron admits that presenting plays with serious topics to a public that has been fed a diet of comedic skits was ''taking a risk.'' Others before him had lost out financially, failing to meet production costs which forced the closure of plays within weeks of opening night.

But Heron has defied the odds with his refreshing brand of drama which he hopes will eventually graduate from the Jamaican stage onto the international one.

"I have always maintained that Jamaican plays need a break on Broadway for foreigners to see our culture just like Bob (Marley) did with music," says Heron. "That's where I'm looking at." (END/IPS/hc/mk/97)