THE play investigates the same idea as the film – men and women can’t be friends because “the sex part” always gets in the way.

Americans Harry, a corporate lawyer, and Sally, a journalist, are the case studies.

They first meet before either has climbed the career ladder, when he comes to decorate her apartment. They chat, they discuss relationships, they talk about sex (as you do with the stranger who comes to paint your living room) and, before you know it, it’s five years later.

This is the first of several jumps in time as the story follows their relationship – and their on-off relationships with other people – over a couple of decades.

Do they end up in bed together? Well, if you’ve seen the award-winning film starring Meg Ryan and Billy Crystal you’ll know the answer. The fun part for the audience is going along the path to the bedroom, for Nora Ephron’s script is full of wise-cracking one-liners and witty observations about the battle of the sexes.

These are preserved in Marcy Kahan’s stage adaptation, so expect an amusing, if short, (under two hours with interval) evening.

The main problem is that the piece cries out to be presented in a more intimate space. The production, and the ugly set, gets lost on the Grand Opera House stage (and even more so, I suspect, at the massive Sunderland Empire next week).

Rupert Hill and Sarah Jayne Dunn – ex-Coronation Street and ex-Hollyoaks respectively – make an attractive couple whose performances reflect a pair who’ve relaxed into the roles as the tour has progressed.

And fans of the movie will be pleased to know that, yes, Dunn recreates the famous scene – the fake orgasm in the restaurant – and was duly rewarded with a round of applause.

■ Until Saturday. Box office: 0844-8472-322/online at grandoperahouseyork.org.uk Touring to Sunderland Empire, Monday to April 17.

Box office: 0844-8472- 499/online at sunderlandempire.org.uk Steve Pratt