In February she directed the sell-out hit Coffeehouse, a captivating series of vignettes staged among the customers at Kemp Town's Red Roaster.

But Linda Waller has been preoccupied by another novel idea, that of two playwrights creating a piece of work together through the exchange of fictional letters.

Having come up with the idea, the Brighton artist has spent the last few years searching for the perfect writing partner. And, although we can't reveal why without giving away the plot, she eventually found the right man in fellow Pier Playwright Andrew G Marshall.

Set during the era when Waller and Marshall were themselves in their teens (Kate Bush and The Sex Pistols are in the charts, The Yorkshire Ripper is on the loose, Starsky And Hutch are on the telly), Sex In The Seventies is based around the idea that dating, before the advent of mobile phones, texting and email, was a very different ballgame.

The protagonists are Robbie and Louise, two 18-year-olds who meet during Fresher's week and share a passion for movies, punk rock and jokes about Mrs Slocombe's Pussy.

Since today's swift communiques are out of the question, their turbulent relationship is conducted via a series of notes, cards and love letters.

"Each letter has a very distinct mood," explains Waller. "They're desperately in love, or baffled, or they've had a row. There's always something happening."

Waller and Marshall had talked about the overall plot - Robbie, it turns out, has a personal secret, one which throws up another interesting comparison between dating now and then. But day-to-day the writers had no idea what to expect in the mail.

"I used to get up every morning excited to find out what was going on," recalls Waller.

"Often I'd laugh out loud but a few times I'd find myself absolutely furious with Robbie for what he'd written and send a really angry reply. We were finding out things about each other as Andrew and Linda as well as Robbie and Louise."

Set against a soundtrack of punk, disco and glam, Sex In The Seventies was originally intended for a radio play but is here being brought to the stage by two young professional actors.

Working with them has, says Waller, "made us feel terribly old - they haven't even heard of Terry and June".

But the writers have so enjoyed this method of working that they're hoping to take the two characters into the Eighties and Nineties.

There is something particularly exciting, I agree, about receiving letters through the post.

"Well, of course, we used email," says Waller, rather shattering our illusions.

"We weren't going to actually sit down and handwrite it," she sighs.

"It's silly, isn't it - when we've got email, not to use it? Does anyone write letters anymore?"

Starts at 8pm, Sat mat 3pm. £8, 01273 702563