'I rarely receive guests in the buff," Jason Carmichael rather grandly informs the girl who has just scurried into his New York flat. The girl in question, Phoebe Craddock, doesn't seem to notice that she has arrived at a rather inopportune moment. Dressed in a random assortment of clothes designed for someone much older, she peers at the naked Jason through an unruly fringe and thick spectacles.

She is a spectacularly unsuccessful, rather earnest playwright, and has decided to come and learn her craft from Jason. "Why do all your characters have short names?" she asks. "Because they're easier to type," comes the reply. The only trouble is, Jason's own recent plays haven't exactly set the box office alight on Broadway.

The often prickly relationship between the two of them is the subject of Bernard Slade's Romantic Comedy. Jason has recently broken up with his last writing partner, indeed he is having a blazing row with him on the phone as Phoebe arrives: "I was your writing partner, not your wife," he snaps.

Talking of wives, Jason is about to get married: the coolly elegant Allison (Elizabeth Payne) sweeps in, already immaculately clad in her wedding dress, just in case someone doesn't get the message. But, needless to say, behind her spectacles, and in spite of waspish disagreements about how Act Four of her new play should end, Phoebe (a splendid portrayal from Kate Atkinson) has already fallen in love with her mentor, even though he is many years her senior.

We are in Noël Coward territory, although Slade doesn't write with the same elegant wit - who does? Like Coward's vain matinee idol Garry Essendine in Present Laughter, Jason is entirely self-centred. As with Essendine, all around must pander to the Great Man'severy whim and mood - including, in this case, Jason's long-suffering agent Blanche (Eleanor David), and the obligatory leggy, young, blonde actress, who is bedded for one afternoon only, then discarded (Melanie Bond gets the thankless task of portraying this particularly dim bimbo).

As Jason, Tom Conti is perhaps of the same indeterminate vintage that Bernard Slade had in mind for the character. Conti also directs, but I'm not sure that is such a good idea, for he seems undecided about one major question: should he send Jason up, or play him straight? A separate director would probably have given the character more edge. Nonetheless there are still plenty of sharp, funny lines to be savoured in this undemanding tale of the theatrical world.

Romantic Comedy continues at Milton Keynes Theatre until tomorrow. For tickets call 0870 060 6652 s=7(www.miltonkeynestheatre.com).