When Blowing Whistles opens with a slideshow of sexy young men and large penises to the soundtrack of Cher’s ‘Believe’, you know that you are embarking upon a gay adventure. However, while it initially appears as if it will be a smutty, salacious snapshot of stereotypical gay culture, it proves to be much more.

When thirty-something gay couple Jamie (Neil Phipps) and Nigel (Lindsay Moss) celebrate their tenth anniversary on the eve of the Mardi Gras parade, hedonistic party boy Nigel decides that the perfect way to demonstrate his love for Jamie is to cruise for a threesome on gay personals website Gaydar. Jamie, on the other hand, would prefer a more traditional expression of affection – “I would have been happy with a cake”, he says – however, as has been the pattern over the history of their 10 year relationship, he sacrifices his own needs in order to satisfy the desires of his partner.

When ‘cumboy17’, who is known as Mark (Lindsay Farris) outside Gaydar, sends Nigel a message indicating that he would be interested in a hook-up, Nigel exhibits childish excitement and eagerly accepts, which only serves to distress his long-suffering boyfriend, who reluctantly agrees to participate in Nigel’s sexual fantasy.

From the promotional material, I expected Blowing Whistles to be a light comedy – clichéd, but entertaining – and for the first act, it seemed as if my prediction would be proven true. However, after a series of thoroughly enjoyable cheap laughs from jabs at gay culture and titillating full-frontal nudity which typify the first act, the play takes on a lot more substance when it makes a darker turn in the second. Exploring issues such as naïve expectations and misguided self-delusion in relationships, this play asks whether the sacrifices we make for love are really worth it, and poses the question: if you are forced to make too many sacrifices to secure the ‘love’ of another, do you really have love at all?

What makes this play particularly effective is that each of the characters is flawed, and that each of the characters, to a degree at least, is represented in the personality of most of us. As the playwright, Matthew Todd, notes, Nigel pursues gratification at any cost to those who are closest to him. Jamie identifies, but wilfully ignores, the blatant problems in his moribund relationship. Mark, a teenager, is naïve, inexperienced, and vulnerable.

“We’re all innocent and needy, we’re all homemakers, and we all want out sexual freedom, even if it’s secret, fleeting and never acted upon, or acted upon all the time. It’s getting the balance right that’s the challenge,” he said.

Initially set in London, this production has been masterfully adapted to the Sydney stage by Alice Livingstone and Pete Nettell – it is littered with Australianisms, including a reference to Miranda Devine, and jokes about that geographical snobbery that is so Sydney.

The standout actor was Neil Phipps, whose portrayal of Jamie, typified by measured intensity, evokes a strong sense of pathos. Lindsay Farris and Lindsay Moss also perform strongly, however the accent that Farris adopted for the role of Mark, which bizarrely seemed to be fusion of cockney and outer western Sydney, was somewhat annoying. This is, however, one of very few conceivable criticisms of Blowing Whistles, which is an excellent production – certainly one of the most exciting plays to come out of Sydney’s Mardi Gras festival in years.