It has been 18 years since that real-life drama played out. But as the very different controversy now surrounding David Letterman reminds us, the debate over what constitutes an abuse of power between a male authority figure and a female subordinate isn't going away. And the gripping new production of Oleanna (* * * ½ out of four) that opened Sunday at the Golden Theatre reinforces how tricky and multilayered that issue can be.

In this revival, the play's first Broadway staging, Bill Pullman is cast as John, a college professor up for tenure, and Julia Stiles is Carol, a student we meet during several visits to his office. In the first scene, Carol is distraught over her inability to comprehend what John is teaching. John is preoccupied with his own concerns but wants to help her, or imagines that he does — his sympathy level and motives are as difficult to read as, apparently, his course material.

What's clear is that John says and does things that could be construed — or misconstrued — as inappropriate. When Carol emerges in the following scene, she has discussed these things with other people, and she reveals her conclusions to John with a righteous indignation that contrasts sharply with her previous mousiness.

As John alternately tries to refute and appease her, he digs a deeper hole for himself. By the end, anyone wishing to could paint him either as a smug brute or the victim of a feminist monster. But what Pullman's and Stiles' performances suggest is that John and Carol may be victims, less of each other than of a failure to communicate.

Mamet, after all, seems less interested in condemning women or men than exploring the complicated dynamics between them, made no simpler by such modern inventions as academic equality and political correctness. Stiles' Carol, joyless and riveting, describes feelings of intellectual inferiority and refers repeatedly to a "group" informing her accusations of John. It's easy to see how this young woman could find empowerment — a favorite term of her set, no doubt — in standing up to a middle-aged man charged with determining her progress.

It's just as obvious why Pullman's conflicted John is thrown by Carol, whose initial desperation likely flatters him. Watching John struggle to maintain his composure as that desperation gives way to something harder and less rational, you'll swear you can see the actor's blood pressure rising.

You may feel your own going up, as well. Oleanna has lost none of its provocative power and is bound to inspire animated conversations long after the curtain falls.

Enlarge By Craig Schwartz Who's the victim? Carol (Julia Stiles) goes to her professor (Bill Pullman) for help. Whether he acts inappropriately is up for debate.