Having read that The Open Couple involved relationships and rowing, I didn't tell the boyfriend exactly what the play we were going to see was about.

I knew he would refuse point blank to go on the basis that it sounded like the theatrical equivalent of a chick flick.

So, instead, I mumbled something about it being a farcical one-act satire written by Nobel Prize winner Dario Fo and his wife, Franca Rame.

My fears proved to be unfounded.

For the duration of the play, actors Sarah Upward and James Turnbull kept the audience enraptured with their portrayal of a couple dallying with extra-marital affairs.

The premise of the story is quite simple. A middle-aged man encourages his suicidal wife to dabble in his hobby of choice - having affairs.

Throughout the play, there's almost an air of audience participation, though not of the cringe-inducing, hide-under-your-seat variety. Rather, the impression is given of eavesdropping on a couple's argument.

As the play reached its conclusion, my boyfriend clapped rapturously.

His take on the moral of the story seemed to be a little at a tangent to mine.

"Don't even think about it," I growled as he pondered the workings of open relationships.