Men, Women: Will They Ever Get Along?

The continuing frisson of the male-female encounters in contemporary American society is given an incisive, balanced voice in a provocative production, “Rebeck Revisited: One Acts,” at the Hudson Avenue Theatre.

In brief but powerful snippets, playwright Theresa Rebeck examines romance, loneliness and professional antagonisms with a humorous, usually ironic edge. It sounds daunting: Eight one-acts using 25 actors, under six directors (Mary-Pat Green, Lynn Stevenson, Eric Mofford, Mary McGuire, Marla Cotovsky and Rebeck). But this bill flows seamlessly into one neat, strongly built package.

In “Great to See You,” a high-profile career woman (Pamela Grace) visits her supposedly happily married former lover (Sean Smith) and his “ding-dong” of a wife (Marika Becz) after receiving his postcard.

After observing the brittle facade of civility and latent passion, we immediately are thrown into an angry diatribe about women in the workplace in “What We’re Up Against.” Two men (Scott Connell and Timothy David-Reed) rail against improprieties as they define the issues.

“Sex With the Censor” takes us to a cozy room where a well-groomed prostitute (Justine Reiss) talks clean to a sexually repressed john (Michael Erger). At a local beach, a Hollywood type in a double-breasted suit (Michael Dempsey) learns about time management from a woman in a wheelchair (Rebecca O’Brien) in “Walk.”

Act 2, “The Bar Plays,” will give anyone second thoughts about bar-hopping. Two bitter, drunken girlfriends (Michelle Watkins and Jane McPherson, replacing Dee Freeman) celebrate Valentine’s Day boyfriend-less in “Candy Heart.” “Speakeasy” concerns the scavenging of romantic wreckage, the result of two old flames (Estel Walker and Ursula Whittaker) bumping into each other. “Drinking Problem” is occasion for the alcoholic reverie of the last customer at the bar (P.B. Hutton).

They might not be the best date for romantics. But Rebeck’s one-acts make for a consistently funny, well-acted and insightful take on the contemporary American men-women conundrum.

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* “Rebeck Revisited,” Hudson Avenue Theatre, 6537 Santa Monica Blvd., Hollywood. Tuesdays, 8 p.m. Ends July 13. (323) 769-5858. Running time: 2 hours 20 minutes.